Re: tool to create .deb for proprietary software?

[David Cho-Lerat <david.lerat@asterion.fr>]

Hi all,
> Depending on your own ambition there are several approaches. The easiest
> and simplest way is to use "dpkg-deb -b" which does right what you asked
> for. A slightly more advanced way would be to use tools like
> checkinstall(1) which require some Makefile which installs files to the
> file system.
>
> The cleanest and most formidable solution is to build a regular Debian
> package like we do for Debian archives proper. The New Maintainers'
> Guide [1] has instructions to get started. In your case you can follow
> the usual instructions, just skip the build process (dh_auto_configure,
> dh_auto_build), as your stuff is shipped in binary form already.
>
> More concrete help is probably available once you ask concrete questions.
>
>
> [1] http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/
>
>    

I've had a look at the New Maintainer's Guide (chapter 5.18) and at
the Debian Policy Manual (chapters 6 & 3.9.1), but couldn't find a
list of helpful commands to be used in maintainer scripts to maximize
the automation of the package installation. Does such a documentation
actually exist ?

For instance :

* to activate an Apache2 site : use a2ensite
* to add a boot service : use insserv
* to add a user : use adduser

and so on. Also, I suppose some specific helper scripts are available
for e.g. Perl packages, Java packages, kernel-related packages ?

Could you please tell me where to look ?

Thanks a lot,
David.