[Chandler-dev] Project to package Chandler in Ubuntu Hardy Heron

[Mike Taylor]

On Nov 1, 2007, at 4:25 PM, Heikki Toivonen wrote:

> Heikki Toivonen wrote:
>> The people behind the Ubuntu project are ramping up planning for the
>> next long term release of Ubuntu, code named Hardy Heron. The plan  
>> is to
>> release that in April 2008.
>>
>> We want to get Chandler into the official Hardy Heron repositories,  
>> so
>> that Ubuntu users will be able to get Chandler like they get any  
>> other
>> piece of software, i.e. using their package manager.
>>
>> The project wiki page is
>> http://chandlerproject.org/Projects/UbuntuHardyHeronChandler. The  
>> wiki
>
> Bear was recently at a conference with the Ubuntu people where Hardy
> Heron was discussed. There has been some talk on what he learned, but
> we'd better put it all on the list as well so everyone will have the
> same info.
>
> Some things I remember bear saying:
>
> * openjdk won't make it as the default java in Hardy Heron  
> timeframe. I
> think this means that we either need to still ship Chandler with
> openjdk, or we'll have to pick some java package to depend on. I'd
> prefer if we picked sun-java 6 dependency rather than ship openjdk (of
> course if openjdk package is included in Hardy Heron we should go  
> for that).

OpenJDK is starting to make it into the debian system, but that's  
using a non Sun environment.  I'm monitoring the openjdk lists for  
traffic but I dont think it's a build priority for them.  The Debian  
folks just don't move fast when it comes to Sun.

I'm still trying to find the person in the Ubuntu realm who is  
tracking this.

> * It will be a lot harder to get to "main" repositories as opposed to
> "universe" or others. I don't actually think this is a problem, I'd be
> happy with anything at all where the user needs at most to do the
> following to get Chandler: enable universe/whatever repository in
> synaptic, update, click to install chandler.

The main repos are considered "core" for Ubuntu and generally they  
track the Debian set very closely, pulling packages into their main  
when they need them for other things.

Getting into the universe is a matter of stepping up and delivering  
package solutions.  For Ubuntu the people who do universe builds are  
known as Master's of The Universe - MOTU, and they are very much self- 
running once you get into that project.

A process I have already started for my personal parsedatetime  
project.  Once I'm in for that then getting in for Chandler will be  
easier.  At FOSSCamp I networked with a number of MOTU's so I won't be  
starting cold.

> I found the Hardy Heron release schedule at
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyReleaseSchedule and one thing that
> immediately pops out at me is the Debian import freeze on December  
> 13th.
>  I think the easiest way to get into Ubuntu is by being packaged by
> Debian, so this route is open for only about a month. We need people  
> to
> step up to help with packing.

That date is key for main packages IIRC but I will double check.

> There are still many things that are not clear to me, though.
>
> Are there other tasks we need to do that are not on the list at
> http://chandlerproject.org/Projects/UbuntuHardyHeronChandler?
>
> Did the Ubuntu folks offer any advice on doing the tasks and getting
> into the repositories?

Yes, a lot of little things but mostly it was two items: Get on  
Launchpad, become a MOTU for the packages we need.

After those, the other steps will become "visible" as I learn to  
navigate the Ubuntu system.

Some links:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Spec/PackagingGuideMerge
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardyReleaseSchedule


--
bear

Build and Release Engineer
Open Source Applications Foundation (OSAF)
bear at osafoundation.org
http://www.osafoundation.org

bear at code-bear.com
http://code-bear.com