Re: Introduction And Request for Help

[gregor herrmann]

On Sat, 28 Oct 2023 10:56:46 +0200, Mikko Johannes Koivunalho wrote:

> Hi All,

Hi Mikko!

> I have a few packages at CPAN.
> Recently, I created a package, Env::Assert
> <https://metacpan.org/dist/Env-Assert> which I used at the office when
> creating containers for data pipelines.

Alright :)

> To make it easier to use Env::Assert in Debian containers, I would like to
> package it for Debian. But I know nothing about Debian packaging, besides,
> of course, using them (installing with apt or dpkg).
> Can anyone help me to package Env::Assert, please?

I think the question is: What is your objective?
- If you want to learn creating Debian packages and join the Debian
Perl Group and maintain 4000 packages -- great, we need more
people!
- If you want to get Env::Assert into Debian, the easiest way is to
ask us to package it :)

If it's the latter: I just spent 2 minutes with dh-make-perl and
Env::Assert, and if I spend 5 minutes more, I can upload the package
to the archive. [0]

If it's the former: Additionally to Andrius' hints we can give you
more pointers for getting into the packaging business.


Cheers,
gregor


[0] Although I just realize that this might be better named envassert
than libenv-assert-perl, as it's more about the binary than the
library, right?

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[Mikko Koivunalho]

Hi Gregor,


> On 31 Oct 2023, at 01:21, gregor herrmann <gre...@debian.org> wrote:

>
> On Sat, 28 Oct 2023 10:56:46 +0200, Mikko Johannes Koivunalho wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>
> Hi Mikko!
>
>> I have a few packages at CPAN.
>> Recently, I created a package, Env::Assert
>> <https://metacpan.org/dist/Env-Assert> which I used at the office when
>> creating containers for data pipelines.
>
> Alright :)
>
>> To make it easier to use Env::Assert in Debian containers, I would like to
>> package it for Debian. But I know nothing about Debian packaging, besides,
>> of course, using them (installing with apt or dpkg).
>> Can anyone help me to package Env::Assert, please?
>
> I think the question is: What is your objective?
> - If you want to learn creating Debian packages and join the Debian
> Perl Group and maintain 4000 packages -- great, we need more
> people!
> - If you want to get Env::Assert into Debian, the easiest way is to
> ask us to package it :)

Yes, please!
Thank you.

>
> If it's the latter: I just spent 2 minutes with dh-make-perl and
> Env::Assert, and if I spend 5 minutes more, I can upload the package
> to the archive. [0]

Have I done everything right so the packaging is as easy as possible?
Just tell me if there is anything missing.

>
> If it's the former: Additionally to Andrius' hints we can give you
> more pointers for getting into the packaging business.
>
>
> Cheers,
> gregor
>
>
> [0] Although I just realize that this might be better named envassert
> than libenv-assert-perl, as it's more about the binary than the
> library, right?

Yes, that’s right. In this case the library is mostly a bi-product, not really meant to be used by itself.
Would it be better if Env::Assert was two separate (CPAN) packages, one for lib and one for executable?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Mikko Koivunalho

[Doug Hoyte]

Hi Gregor and Mikko,

Sorry for hijacking this thread, but can I please request a new package too?

App::Session::Token /
https://metacpan.org/dist/App-Session-Token/view/bin/session-token

This is a command-line interface for my Session::Token library (already
packaged as libsession-token-perl).

For my everyday work-flow, it's the only package I still need to install
from CPAN. I also think it would be useful for other people. If I had to
suggest a package name I'd say just "session-token" (name of the bin)
but anything would be fine.

Actually I tried to figure out how to do the packaging myself a while
ago, but something wasn't working for me (a form URL was timing out
IIRC) so I gave up.

In case it helps, I made a wish-list description:

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist

* Package name    : session-token
  Version         : 0.102
  Upstream Author : Doug Hoyte <do...@hcsw.org>
* URL             : https://metacpan.org/dist/App-Session-Token
* License         : Artistic or GPL-1+
  Programming Lang: Perl
  Description     : Generate session tokens, passwords, random data,
and more

The session-token script is a command-line interface to the
Session::Token library,
packaged as libsession-token-perl. It is a flexible utility for
generating random
data, allowing users to specify alternate alphabets, and specify random
token sizes
by minimum entropy or directly by size. Multiple tokens can be output as
a stream,
useful in pipelines. An arbitrary seed can be provided in case
deterministic output
is needed, for example in test suites.


Thank you!!

Doug

[gregor herrmann]

On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 09:26:09 +0100, Mikko Koivunalho wrote:

> > - If you want to get Env::Assert into Debian, the easiest way is to
> > ask us to package it :)
> Yes, please!
> Thank you.

Alright, let's take this route :)

> > If it's the latter: I just spent 2 minutes with dh-make-perl and
> > Env::Assert, and if I spend 5 minutes more, I can upload the package
> > to the archive. [0]
> Have I done everything right so the packaging is as easy as possible?
> Just tell me if there is anything missing.

I haven't noticed anything yesterday in my 2-minute-check but thanks
for the offer!

> > [0] Although I just realize that this might be better named envassert
> > than libenv-assert-perl, as it's more about the binary than the
> > library, right?
> Yes, that’s right. In this case the library is mostly a bi-product,
> not really meant to be used by itself.

Ok, thanks for the confirmation.

> Would it be better if Env::Assert was two separate (CPAN) packages,
> one for lib and one for executable?

I think that would be overkill.

What I often see is that distributions like this are named App-foo on
the CPAN, so maybe App-envassert would be an option. But from a
Debian point of view that's irrelevant …


Cheers,
gregor

[gregor herrmann]

On Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:17:05 -0400, Doug Hoyte wrote:

> Sorry for hijacking this thread, but can I please request a new package too?

You could have started a new thread, it's not that we we have a limit
on threads on our mailing lists :)

> App::Session::Token /
> https://metacpan.org/dist/App-Session-Token/view/bin/session-token
> This is a command-line interface for my Session::Token library (already
> packaged as libsession-token-perl).

Sure, we can take a look.

> For my everyday work-flow, it's the only package I still need to install
> from CPAN. I also think it would be useful for other people. If I had to
> suggest a package name I'd say just "session-token" (name of the bin) but
> anything would be fine.

Makes sense.

> Actually I tried to figure out how to do the packaging myself a while ago,
> but something wasn't working for me (a form URL was timing out IIRC) so I
> gave up.

Sounds, hm, interesting :)

(We can't -- technically and by policy -- use online resources during
build.)

> In case it helps, I made a wish-list description:

Thank you!


One thing I'm wondering is why App::Session::Token is distributed
separately from Session::Token; no big deal for us to have Yet
Another Package but putting a script into the distribution with the
library seems to be quite common.


Cheers,
gregor

[Doug Hoyte]

On 10/31/23 22:13, gregor herrmann wrote:

You could have started a new thread, it's not that we we have a limit
on threads on our mailing lists :)
 

Haha good point -- I just saw your offer to help with Mikko's package and jumped at it. My mistake. :)

Actually I tried to figure out how to do the packaging myself a while ago,
but something wasn't working for me (a form URL was timing out IIRC) so I
gave up.

Sounds, hm, interesting :)

(We can't -- technically and by policy -- use online resources during
build.)
 

I don't recall exactly what the problem was (this was a few years ago). Maybe I was trying to sign up for some kind of ID or something (?).

One thing I'm wondering is why App::Session::Token is distributed
separately from Session::Token; no big deal for us to have Yet
Another Package but putting a script into the distribution with the
library seems to be quite common.

Yes, this could work too. Initially I thought to keep them separate, thinking some users of the library would not want to also install a script. And at this point, the library is pretty widely used so I'm hesitant to push a script onto all installations.

Cheers,

Doug

[gregor herrmann]

On Wed, 01 Nov 2023 14:04:36 -0400, Doug Hoyte wrote:

> On 10/31/23 22:13, gregor herrmann wrote:
> > You could have started a new thread, it's not that we we have a limit
> > on threads on our mailing lists :)
> Haha good point -- I just saw your offer to help with Mikko's package and
> jumped at it. My mistake. :)

No worries :)

> > One thing I'm wondering is why App::Session::Token is distributed
> > separately from Session::Token; no big deal for us to have Yet
> > Another Package but putting a script into the distribution with the
> > library seems to be quite common.
> Yes, this could work too. Initially I thought to keep them separate,
> thinking some users of the library would not want to also install a script.
> And at this point, the library is pretty widely used so I'm hesitant to push
> a script onto all installations.

Alright, makes sense as well.

I guess I'll take a look at App::Session::Token soon if noone from
the team beats me to it.

[Mikko Johannes Koivunalho]

I was thinking the Debian package could be called simply "env-assert".

Cheers,
gregor

Sincerely,
Mikko Koivunalho

[Andrew Ruthven]

On Wed, 2023-11-01 at 14:04 -0400, Doug Hoyte wrote:
> > One thing I'm wondering is why App::Session::Token is distributed
> > separately from Session::Token; no big deal for us to have Yet
> > Another Package but putting a script into the distribution with the
> > library seems to be quite common.
>  Yes, this could work too. Initially I thought to keep them separate,
> thinking some users of the library would not want to also install a
> script. And at this point, the library is pretty widely used so I'm
> hesitant to push a script onto all installations.

Given the script is about 3600 kB (bin and module), I don't think many
people would notice it. ;) It could be an optional install.

Cheers,
Andrew

--
Andrew Ruthven, Wellington, New Zealand
and...@etc.gen.nz |
Catalyst Cloud: | This space intentionally left blank
https://catalystcloud.nz |

[Doug Hoyte]

Probably you are right. If you all feel this is the best way I can do
this instead. Please let me know.

Cheers,

Doug

[Andrew Ruthven]

Oh, and looking at this now I see I was a unit out. It is ~3.6 kB. :)

Cheers,
Andrew

[gregor herrmann]

On Thu, 09 Nov 2023 22:43:15 +0100, Mikko Johannes Koivunalho wrote:

> When Env:Assert is packaged, will it become available to all supported
> Debians? When?

I've uploaded env-assert to the NEW queue right now. After the review
by the ftp-master team, it will be available in unstable, and a
couple of days later it will migrate to testing.

> Is there a repository for the packaging code?

https://salsa.debian.org/perl-team/modules/packages/env-assert

[gregor herrmann]

[Could y'all please stop top-posting? This makes replying/quoting
quite hard …]

On Tue, 07 Nov 2023 09:28:12 +1300, Andrew Ruthven wrote:

> Oh, and looking at this now I see I was a unit out. It is ~3.6 kB. :)

What's the status here?

Doug, have you decided if you want to merge App::Session::Token into
Session::Token?

Andrew, are you prepared to handle this issue on the Debian side?
(Just checking if I can drop it from my Potential-TODO-List.)

[Doug Hoyte]

Hi Gregor,

On 11/11/23 17:50, gregor herrmann wrote:

[Could y'all please stop top-posting? This makes replying/quoting
quite hard …]

Hehe sorry!

What's the status here?

Doug, have you decided if you want to merge App::Session::Token into
Session::Token?

Personally I would prefer a separate package, just because I don't really know if there are any down-stream consequences for anyone who depends on the CPAN distribution or deb/rpm packages. This is how it's been distributed for [checks notes] 11 years -- now I feel old! :)

Thanks!

Doug

[gregor herrmann]

On Sun, 12 Nov 2023 08:08:20 -0500, Doug Hoyte wrote:

> > What's the status here?
> > Doug, have you decided if you want to merge App::Session::Token into
> > Session::Token?
> Personally I would prefer a separate package, just because I don't really
> know if there are any down-stream consequences for anyone who depends on the
> CPAN distribution or deb/rpm packages. This is how it's been distributed for
> [checks notes] 11 years -- now I feel old! :)

session-token_0.102-1 uploaded to the new queue, sorry for the delay.

[Doug Hoyte]

Wonderful, thank you for this!!