Re: Building a build environment
Richard Hurt <rnhurt@kangaroobox.com> writes:
> I am just getting started in Debian package building
Thanks for your work and persistence, and welcome!
> and I need to know if this idea is valid or if there is a better
> way. It's my understanding that building Debian packages is best
> done in a Sid environment.
You're right; packages intended for upload to 'unstable' should be
built and tested in an installation of 'unstable'.
> Since I'm not running Sid on any of my machines, I had the though of
> using VirtualBox on my Ubuntu machine to create a clean Sid build
> environment. Does this make sense?
It does, especially if you intend to use the resulting system, or if
you require testing against specific kernels. It may be overkill
though.
Simpler is to use a 'chroot' environment. You could set up one
yourself, but then you have to maintain it, and deal with its cruft as
you install and remove many packages.
For building packages (like you, I don't run 'unstable' on any of my
machines) I use 'pbuilder', which has the advantage of always building
the package from a clean chroot environment and thus finding
unexpected FTBFS or build dependency bugs before I upload.
> Also, the wide array of tools available to me is pretty
> overwhelming. pBuilder, cowbuilder, cowdancer, quilt, etc... The
> list is quite long and I'm not sure which one is old, new, mature,
> good or bad. Does anyone have any advice for a newbie packager that
> just wants a simple setup that works? What do you use?
The Developer's Reference and New Maintainer's Guide should be your
first port of call. Read them thoroughly and become familiar with
them; they have much advice on tools and procedures.
--
\ “I went to a general store. They wouldn't let me buy anything |
`\ specifically.” —Steven Wright |
_o__) |
Ben Finney
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