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diff --git a/debian/README.maintainers.in b/debian/README.maintainers.in new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c0b0cab --- /dev/null +++ b/debian/README.maintainers.in @@ -0,0 +1,88 @@ + +Hints for maintainers of Debian packages of Python extensions +------------------------------------------------------------- + +Most of the content of this README can be found in the Debian Python policy. +See /usr/share/doc/python/python-policy.txt.gz. + +Documentation Tools +------------------- + +If your package ships documentation produced in the Python +documentation format, you can generate it at build-time by +build-depending on @PVER@-dev, and you will find the +templates, tools and scripts in /usr/lib/@PVER@/doc/tools -- +adjust your build scripts accordingly. + + +Makefile.pre.in issues +---------------------- + +Python comes with a `universal Unix Makefile for Python extensions' in +/usr/lib/@PVER@/config/Makefile.pre.in (with Debian, this is included +in the python-dev package), which is used by most Python extensions. + +In general, packages using the Makefile.pre.in approach can be packaged +simply by running dh_make or by using one of debhelper's rules' templates +(see /usr/doc/debhelper/examples/). Makefile.pre.in works fine with e.g. +"make prefix=debian/tmp/usr install". + +One glitch: You may be running into the problem that Makefile.pre.in +doesn't try to create all the directories when they don't exist. Therefore, +you may have to create them manually before "make install". In most cases, +the following should work: + + ... + dh_installdirs /usr/lib/@PVER@ + $(MAKE) prefix=debian/tmp/usr install + ... + + +Byte-compilation +---------------- + +For speed reasons, Python internally compiles source files into a byte-code. +To speed up subsequent imports, it tries to save the byte-code along with +the source with an extension .pyc (resp. pyo). This will fail if the +libraries are installed in a non-writable directory, which may be the +case for /usr/lib/@PVER@/. + +Not that .pyc and .pyo files should not be relocated, since for debugging +purposes the path of the source for is hard-coded into them. + +To precompile files in batches after installation, Python has a script +compileall.py, which compiles all files in a given directory tree. The +Debian version of compileall has been enhanced to support incremental +compilation and to feature a ddir (destination dir) option. ddir is +used to compile files in debian/usr/lib/python/ when they will be +installed into /usr/lib/python/. + + +Currently, there are two ways to use compileall for Debian packages. The +first has a speed penalty, the second has a space penalty in the package. + +1.) Compiling and removing .pyc files in postinst/prerm: + + Use dh_python(1) from the debhelper packages to add commands to byte- + compile on installation and to remove the byte-compiled files on removal. + Your package has to build-depend on: debhelper (>= 4.1.67), python. + + In /usr/share/doc/@PVER@, you'll find sample.postinst and sample.prerm. + If you set the directory where the .py files are installed, these + scripts will install and remove the .pyc and .pyo files for your + package after unpacking resp. before removing the package. + +2.) Compiling the .pyc files `out of place' during installation: + + As of 1.5.1, compileall.py allows you to specify a faked installation + directory using the "-d destdir" option, so that you can precompile + the files in their temporary directory + (e.g. debian/tmp/usr/lib/python2.1/site-packages/PACKAGE). + + + + 11/02/98 + Gregor Hoffleit <flight@debian.org> + + +Last modified: 2007-10-14 |