Re: Build-Depends on source itself [libgap-sage]
Hello,
On 01/11/16 05:19, Paul Wise wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 1, 2016 at 12:43 PM, Jerome BENOIT wrote:
>
>> for one of my package, libgap-sage [1], the source material used for build
>> is in fact seded meterial from an other package, gap: grossely the sed process
>> is the main part of libgap package: is there a standard way to use the Debian
>> source package of gap inside my own package libgap-sage ?
>> Any hint or example is welcome.
>
> At this time there is no way for source packages to build-depend on
> other source packages.
>
> The most often used workaround for this is binary packages with
> -source at the end of their names:
>
> $ aptitude search -- -source$
On 01/11/16 17:47, Paul Wise wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 2, 2016 at 12:38 AM, Jerome BENOIT wrote:
>
>> Is there any guidance for such source packages ? Which ones of them I may consider
>> a good example.
>
> They are all about the same, ship the source under /usr/src, done.
>
>> I guess it is the best way to proceed.
>
> It is probably the least good way to proceed, please provide some
> details so we can discuss a proper solution.
>
Let give a try. I am dealing with the libgap-sage package [1].
To begin with, GAP is a Computer Algebra System (CAS).
>From an upstream point of view, libgap is not part of GAP itself.
libgap is rather a library wrapper for gap meant to get a better
access to the GAP kernel and to be used within Sage, which is a kind
a umbrella for multiple CAS (GAP, Singular, and a myriad of scientific oriented software packages).
Note that, for now at least, GAP itself does not furnish any library; hence libgap.
Basically libgap adds a prefix to the GAP functions and variables,
and gather them in a library. We must have in mind the following points:
1] The libgap source ball provides the modified source files with some delay
(current modified gap version in libgap is 4.8.3 while the current gap version is 4.8.5 ,
this version being the one in Stretch. In any case, the copyright headers of the source files
are not modified, so they cannot be packaged for copyright reasons.
2] The scripts that modify the original GAP source files is not distributed within
the libgap upstream source ball, but it is available via the libgap git repository [2] at Bitbucket
along some documentation for generating our own modified GAP source code. The current Debian source ball
for libgap is the git repository material (which unmodified contains but obsolete GAP material, version 4.8.3).
3] The libgap Debian package must be synchronized with the GAP Debian package, so modifying the (potentially)
patched GAP src/ is certainly not only a good idea but also a factor of stability and good maintenance.
4] Just the material in the subfolder src/ within the GAP source ball is needed, that is to say, not the all
source ball.
5] We want a long term solution to ease the maintenance of Sage[Math] and its friends.
For now, instead of a full source package and as suggested by Ben Finney, I think that a pure technical package
that would contain main the src/ subfolder material is the best option.
Of course, I am willing to write the patch against the GAP debian/ material that will introduce this src package.
And, before all, it must be done with the agreement of the GAP Debian package maintainer.
Thanks,
Jerome
[1] https://packages.qa.debian.org/libg/libgap-sage.html
[2] https://bitbucket.org/vbraun/libgap
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