Mailinglist Archive: opensuse (5130 mails)

[Martin Mewes <mm@xxxxxxxx>]

Hi Pascal,

Pascal Bleser <pascal.bleser@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>Martin Mewes wrote:

>> Speaking for the developer of Webmin/Usermin (Jamie Cameron) directly I
>> really would like to see Webmin/Usermin getting back into the distribution,
>> but again it's too complex.
>
>I tried to package Webmin once, that was quite some time ago, but Webmin
>really isn't suited nor made to be easily packaged, mostly because the
>setup is interactive (at least that was the only option at that time).
>Given that I now have a lot more experience with a lot more exotic
>packages, I'd say it's far from being impossible.

Well you need to use the src.rpm from the developer (right now:
http://webmin.mamemu.de/devel/rpm/webmin-1.270-1.src.rpm) and repack on that
one. For me it was a good start because of the interactive original setup.
Be aware I run a mirror of Webmin and am not the developer ;-)

>> On will I could whitepaper my thoughts a bit more.
>
>Yes please. opensuse-packaging is very, very low traffic... actually
>that list is near useless at the moment, unfortunately.

As I am mirroring this list (http://mbox.mewes.tv/mbox/ ->
http://mbox.mewes.tv/mbox/opensuse-packaging/) but not had the time to
actually read it I will follow my own guess and give it another try the next
days.

>Nevertheless, there are several experienced packagers subscribed to that
>list, and I'd say that if you have a question regarding packaging, be it
>specific to SUSE or not, or just want to discuss thing related to it,
>join the list, let us know.
>
>What kind of documentation are you looking for ?
>About RPM, generally ?
>About making RPMs specifically on SUSE Linux ?

I think that if a packager wants to build packages for openSUSE a
interactive build tool (IBT) should come up with something like this (more
specific to read on opensuse-packaging soon):

Step 01:	Enter the path/download URL to the $name.src.rpm
Step 02:	IBT extracts the contents to ~/build/$name
Step 03:	As the src.rpm extracts the sources for $name.rpm provided
		by the developer it should be somewhat analyzable by IBT.
		IBT should actually see the install instructions and can
		present the sections part by part.
Step 04:	IBT should be able to have a set of directories builtin
		to give the packager good hints on how to change the
		install instructions.

		Example: Webmin wants to install to /usr/libexec/webmin
		by default, but the standards for openSUSE say that
		system packages should go to /opt/$package as example so the
		instructions for the installation regarding the installation
		path should be automatically altered by IBT.

Step 05:	In the end Webmin is managed over HTTP so the IBT should
		ask a couple of questions at the end, i.e.

		Is this a package to be managed remotely? [ ]
		Please enter the the needed port: ________

		IBT can automatically add code to the package
		to open the managing port in the firewall. [ ]

		RPM-Commandline/YAST-Output:
		a) If you choose to leave this entry blank
		some code will be added to the package informing the
		end-user that he needs to open the given port in the
		firewall manually.
		b) If you choose to select this option code will be added
		informing the user that the given port will be opened
		automatically for him.

As you may see "Step 05" is part of the IBT which is directly supporting
openSUSE. To now it is Webmin-specific but I will render it to be more
general. In the end there should be something like this:

Step 06:	openSUSE requires packages to be signed with a digital
		signature. If you do not have a GnuPG-key IBT will now
		build one for you. Please enter the following information:

		Full Name:
		eMail:
		Description:

		IBT will create the key and stores everything in a safe
		place to be used for future packaging. On will IBT will
		upload it to a key-server for you as well (highly
		recommended). This key should be used for packaging only.


Huh, this is everything I have in mind so far, but it will be more specific
and I will rewrite it to some HTML-slideshow.


bis dahin / kind regards

Martin Mewes
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Messaging 2003

-- 
http://www.mewes.tv/ - Homepage
http://mbox.mewes.tv/ - Mailinglisten zum Downloaden