Re: Ignoramus' Guide to Deb-Make
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Christian Leutloff wrote:
>
> Igor Grobman <igor@digicron.com> writes:
>
> > Christian Leutloff wrote:
> > > Will Lowe <harpo@udel.edu> writes:
> > Here, I strongly disagree. First, let me say that I was debmake fan in my
> > time :-). I, too, couldn't see what people could possibly have against it.
> > It makes things so much easier! That it does, but it hides what it is that
> > it is doing. We pride ourselves on the fact that debian packages can be
> > handled using standard *nix tools. Well, with the introduction of debstd and
> > debhelper[1], we have made our packages depend on our own special tools.
>
> They're only shell scripts. You can use and compile the whole package without the
> rules file. Only for making the package again you have to install
> more shell scripts. No porting is needed. Where's the problem??
>
The problem is that by design, the rules was supposed to be a simple makefile
where you could easily see what's being done. The scripts hide that. Don't
forget that we are talking about commands like cp, mv, install and gzip, not
some obscure commands noone knows about.
> > That is only one problem with those tools. Another major problem is that they
> > hide what they are doing.
>
> Where's the problem with that fact?? You don't see how memory is
> allocated to the Linux kernel, but you can make new programs ...
>
> > It is my belief that the maintainer
> > should know exactly what's going with his package.
>
> I don't *want* to know that! I only want a package that fits well in the
> Debian system with minimal extra effort.
*sigh*. You will want to know that when you get bugs against your package.
IMO, debugging is much easier without debstd. While we are on the topic of
debugging... These tools change often, so building the same package with
different versions of the tool can produce completely different packages. If
someone ever files a bug against your source package, and it's related to the
fact that different debstd versions were used, how long is it going to take
you to find that out?
--
Proudly running Debian Linux! Linux vs. Windows is a no-Win situation....
Igor Grobman igor@debian.org igor@digicron.com
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