Re: dh_python or pybuild

[Dominik George <natureshadow@debian.org>]

Hi,

> I am not sure if I misunderstand something or if the documentation is
> inconsistent.
> 
> The PythonPolicy
> https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/python-policy/
> tells me that dh_python should be the preferred tool for packaging
> (https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/python-policy/#versions)
> 
> But the LibraryStyleGuide
> https://wiki.debian.org/Python/LibraryStyleGuide
> tells me it is pybuild
> (https://wiki.debian.org/Python/LibraryStyleGuide#Overview).
> 
> And the DPT policy
> https://salsa.debian.org/python-team/tools/python-modules/-/blob/master/policy.rst
> tells me something about git-buildpackage and gbp.

the three components work together, or better, are used at different
stages.

* git-buildpackage (which is the same as gbp) is used to manage the
  sources of your package in git

* pybuild is the toolchain that does the building process itself, and
  knows how to run setup.py or other tools, etc.

* dh_python is the debhelper chain, the glue between the package
  building process and pybuild

dh_python can use several different build systems, of which pybuild is
the preferred one. When debhelper calls, e.g. dh_auto_build,
dh_auto_build calls all chains that support the build
target. dh_python does, so it is called, and in turn calls pybuild to
do its magic of figuring out how to do the build for your specific
package at hand.

HTH,
Nik