[OpenIndiana-discuss] Fun Task - Comparing OI packages vs CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu etc

[Alasdair Lumsden]

On 23 Oct 2010, at 00:15, Kevin J. Woolley wrote:

> Is there a reasonably complete, up-to-date set of documentation for the packaging process?  

No - not yet. We could certainly do with one. A section of the Handbook might be a worthwhile location for such info.

> I'm happy to help build packages, but my previous questions in this area have not been adequately answered (unless "just Google it" is a valid answer, at which point I point out that it's not obvious to a newbie what is complete and up to date...).

Granted.

There are a couple of methods of doing it, but writing spec files for pkgbuild is probably one of the more standard methods (although I don't find spec files that easy to put together). James O'Gorman is working on a ports tree as an alternative for people who prefer that route, but it is not complete yet.

Putting together a guide would be a good project for someone. The basic principle is:

1. Install oi_147
2. Create software building zone
3. Install build tools (Sun Studio and/or gcc, autoconf/automake/libtool/gmake/pkgbuild/etc)
4. Install dependencies your software needs
5. Write spec file
6. Build with pkgbuild --ips
7. Test package in another zone
8. Publish package and specfile

We're thinking about providing an environment which automates steps 1 to 3, so the developer can check out a zone for use, and get developing. Maybe something like SourceJucr or somesuch. Need more developers though!

Cheers,

Alasdair