Package helpers

There are a set of scripts used to build trisquel packages. They are located in https://devel.trisquel.info/trisquel/package-helpers , and we call them helpers. We use them to modify and compile those packages coming from Ubuntu upstream which need it. It might be because they contain non-free stuff, references to Ubuntu that need to be changed, or because we want the package to work our way.

These helpers are similar to some of those in the gNewSense builder; we took some ideas and even some lines from them. If you plan to build an Ubuntu derivative of your own, we suggest you use builder instead of these helpers.

All packages in this list are in the appropriate blacklist in the repository updater, so they never enter into the repo from upstream and need to be compiled with these helpers and pushed into reprepro.

These helpers also need to be run by hand (and the results tested) any time the repo watchdog warns about pending updates from upstream.

To add a package to the list, just copy one (make-apache2 is a good template) and rename it to make-sourcePackageName.

Some recommendations:

• Take care to use the right sourcePackageName, many source packages produce several binary packages. "apt-cache showsrc binary-package" can help you.
• If possible, use sed to replace chains in the upstream source without the need of external files or patches. If you really need to include a file, place it at the DATA/sourcePackageName directory
• Do not replace *all* references to Ubuntu in the package, just those that would actually be shown to the user. Avoid replacing copyright statements!
• Try to write your replacements in a way they might work in future versions of the upstream package. Well written regexps and sed will help with that.

Writing new helpers

You'll need a copy of the package source as a basis to code and test your sed/awk command for the changes. Using the Trisquel package source is good enough for nearly all cases. In a separate directory (say $HOME/src ) do:

apt-get source package-name

If you now cd into the package-name-release directory you're in the same relative place package helper sed scripts are run.

List of available variables inside the helper scripts

CODENAME=aramo

The codename of the current Trisquel release

REVISION=11.0

The version number for the current Trisquel release

UPSTREAM=jellyfish

The upstream codename for the release

MIRROR=http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu

The upstream mirror from where to get the sources

DEVELMIRROR=http://devel.trisquel.info/trisquel

The development mirror

Useful when a package depends on other that needs to be trisquelized first

LOCALMIRROR=http://archive.trisquel.info/trisquel # The official mirror

EXTERNAL="deb-src http://sample.repo.foo/ current main"

Makes the sources in that repository available for compilation

It will only be used if Ubuntu doesn't provide the package or its version is lower

$DATA/

Directory containing files for the helper

Put the files in helpers/DATA/$PACKAGE

Usage example: cp $DATA/file.txt debian/patches

VERSION=1

Trisquel version to append (as in 2.4-1ubuntu4+11.0trisquel1)

We append "+11.0trisquel1", which is +${REVISION}trisquel${VERSION}

Increase every time the helper is updated

COMPONENT=main

Tells the build system that the package comes from main, so the translations should be stripped

Use only when the rebranding doesn't affect the locales!

FAKEROOT=true

Tells the build system to use a fakeroot and compile as user "nobody"

PARALLEL=true

Compile with -j$NUM_PROCESSORS.

More information

• Git Documentation