[tex-live] Packaging TeXlive as Debian packages

[Gavin McCullagh]

Hi,

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005, Norbert Preining wrote:

> Good. I put you on my list of testers.

Great, thanks.

> > 1. It is very important (for me) to be able to install binaries for several
> > architectures.  We keep a central tree which many users on different OSes
> 
> Hmm. This seems hard to be done. AFAIS debian has built in architecture
> management. But see below.

That's true but there are surely many architecture independent
packages (eg stuff written in perl).  "tl-bin-$arch" would be such a
package.  Then the arch dependent dummy package "tl-bin" would depend upon
the correct tl-bin-$arch.

> > possibly with a dummy tl-bin package which selects the correct one from the
> > above.  I'm unsure of the correct Debian location for foreign binaries
> 
> Are there? I have to check this. I am *not* a DD and only have packaged
> a few debs.

In honesty, I have no idea.  It just seems like something that someone else
must have had to do.  Perhaps not though.  

> Hmm. Now that you mention this, I see that we have exactely the same
> problem. We have /usr/TeX-live which is shared via nfs to our 10+
> diskless clients and used on the server, too. The debian way seems to be
> a mess here.
> 
> But I guess I have an idea: Maybe we can do the following:
> We have packages:
> 	tl-XXXX-bin
> and
> 	tl-XXXX-bin-<arch>
> The bin-<arch> install the binaries into
> 	/usr/share/texlive/bin/<arch>/...
> and the tl-XXXX-bin creates symlinks to /usr/bin for the right binaries.

I'm unsure if the debian packaging guidelines require the actual binaries
in /usr/bin/ or if symlinks in this direction will do.  Functionally it's
clear they are really the same.  The docs will also need linking up.  It
would be nice for the Debian central doc system to be able to see the
texlive docs too.

> This way you could share the /usr/share/texlive tree, and just have to
> add the the right path.

Sounds ideal.

> > 3. There are several very cool packages in Debian which handle use of
> > 
> > I would suggest the above method could be used for 3rd party fonts.  
> > the method to install Adobe Baskerville.
> 
> Good idea, but not for now I would say. But you can start hacking around
> and maybe we can come up with something like this.

One of the benefits of having the apt system you suggest is that this could
be added afterward either within your archive or unofficially on another.

> For your information: I have made .debs for all the collection and
> binaries automatically, but I have to fix several things before I can
> ask you for a short run on it.

Let me know when I can try it out.


On Tue, 11 Jan 2005, Sebastian Rahtz wrote:

> I appreciate that the multiple binary thing is a need, but I hope
> we don't compromise on Debian normality to accomodate it

Of course.  If Debian packaging guidelines don't have a place to put the
foreign binaries then perhaps this is a new problem.  I cannot imagine they
would simply say 'no'.

> This does not sound too bad, but does it means that on a simple system I 
> have to install tl-XXX-bin and tl-XXX-bin-<arch>? how would the 
> dependencies work?

See above.

> >>In that case 'apt-get install tl-font-support-adobe-baskerville' would be
> >>the method to install Adobe Baskerville.
> >>
> thats getting ambitious :-}

It's another dream!  First things first though.

Gavin