On Tue, 08 May 2007 01:51:45 +0900, Brian Candler wrote:

> OK, so I'm not entirely clear how Pallet works then.
> 
> Does it generate "how to" build rules for the native packaging system - e.g.
> spec files for RPM, whatever the equivalent is for Debian (control.tar.gz)?
> And then you use the native packaging system to actually create the
> package?

Yes. And, for debian, that's a whole slew of files in a "debian/"
directory, plus a self-executing Makefile called "debian/rules". It's
kind of a PITA, actually. :)

> Or does it configure, build and install the package itself, and then
> only instruct the native packaging system to assemble those files into
> the finished package?

No, it only writes the package-specific configuration (config file, slew
of files in some directory, whatever) files, then instructs the package
system to do the whole thing itself.

Arguably, the latter approach would be cleaner from a software design
point of view, and likely where the project will head in the future. For
now, I wanted to get something released and working. Actual Ruby libraries
to completely generate .deb/.rpm/.ebuild/.foo would be very useful,
though. Sadly, I don't have infinite time, and I'm nowhere near as
productive as _why.

-- 
Stephen Touset <stephen / touset.org>