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MoinMoin 2 Packaging



Hello,

I was advised to raise this topic on this mailing list, so I hope it is 
appropriate and of some interest. MoinMoin is, of course, the wiki software 
that delivers the Debian Wiki site, but the version involved (Moin 1.9) is 
dependent on Python 2, which has largely been expunged from Debian. For that 
reason, and possibly others, the software is no longer available as a Debian 
package.

Although Moin 1.9 has been maintained and has seen fixes applied for security-
related issues, development attention has largely moved to Moin 2 which has 
also transitioned to Python 3. Unfortunately, Moin 2 appears to be rather less 
widespread in general use than its predecessor, and the task of packaging it 
and its numerous dependencies has previously been prohibitive. Fortunately, 
many of these dependencies have more recently become available in Debian, 
reducing the effort required to finish the job.

I have previously discussed the Debian packaging situation with various 
individuals in the Moin and Debian communities, and a Salsa team was 
established as a venue for packaging activities:

https://salsa.debian.org/moin-team/

Since then, the following packages have been made:

emeraldtree
feedgen
flask-theme
flatland
moin
python-xstatic-autosize
python-xstatic-bootstrap
python-xstatic-ckeditor
python-xstatic-jquery-file-upload
python-xstatic-pygments

Aside from the moin package, these are small packages that fill various gaps 
and that build on existing packages such as JavaScript libraries already 
available in Debian. Other packages could also have been introduced, notably 
various drawing tools that Moin 2 can potentially use, but these have a more 
complicated set of dependencies with less existing support within Debian.

Currently, all of these packages are built and tested on Salsa, at least to 
the extent of the tests provided by the upstream projects. Notably, the moin 
package itself is built and tested, with a package repository of all new 
Debian packages (given in the list above) provided as a consequence of a 
successful build of the moin package in the form of artifacts from each CI 
pipeline's "aptly" job.

Thus, the "publish" phase of the most recent successful pipeline shown in the 
moin package's CI pipeline list...

https://salsa.debian.org/moin-team/moin/-/pipelines

...will have an "aptly" job whose artifacts can be used by apt to obtain and 
test these packages in a suitable environment.

Cursory testing appears to indicate that these packages behave acceptably. A 
wiki instance can be created and started, and the instance visited and edited 
through a Web browser. Currently, testing has been limited to the built-in Web 
server, and deployment using a dedicated Web server needs to be verified, 
although this should merely involve the usual WSGI integration issues:

https://moin-20.readthedocs.io/en/latest/admin/serve.html#external-web-server-advanced

It is not my place to make suggestions about whether the Debian project itself 
should continue to use Moin, especially given enthusiasm expressed in various 
venues for migrating wiki content to other solutions, even if I personally do 
not think that content migration should be a lightly undertaken activity.

However, I hope that the potential availability of Moin 2 might provide some 
options to both the project as well as its many users.

Regards,

Paul



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