src2pkg - trackinstall - sentry Copyright 2005-2010 Gilbert Ashley amigo@ibilio.org amigolinux.org src2pkg is a system for creating installable software packages from source code or any other type of content. It can create packages of several different formats, depending on which system you are building packages for. It can also convert existing packages into packages of a different format or type. See the file 'Technical' for details of the formats supported. src2pkg is both a command-line tool and a package-creation API which can be used by simple 'build scripts' in order to make the process repeatable or to perform the complex tasks needed for some packages. The goals of src2pkg are these: 1. Above all, make the task of compiling software and creating packages as safe as possible. src2pkg allows most packages to be created while logged in as a normal un-priviledged user. And all default operations carried out by src2pkg are done as safely as possible. 2. Create packages which are uniform and standards-compliant. src2pkg can comply with several different packaging standards and allows you to choose which to use. 3. Make creation of packages as simple and easy as possible for the casual user, while providing sufficient flexibility and depth of utility to keep 'power users' happy, as well. 4. Encourage 'best practices' when working with software, according to the spirit of open-source software and in compliance with the 'free' software licenses under which it is made available. 5. Encourage the repeatability and reliability of packaging software. By using src2pkg 'build scripts', an accurate and repeatable 'recipe' is kept of the package building process. These scripts also provide a place to keep any notes to yourself (or others) about each package. This is important both for users who only rarely create a package as well as for those who create lots of packages. 6. src2pkg should be compatible with multiple architectures and/or operating systems. src2pkg is known to work under Linux and similar OS's running on various kinds of hardware, including x86(intel), x86_64, PPC and others. It can even be used on multi-lib systems or in a cross-compiling environment. The src2pkg package includes extensive documentation which can help you get the best use out of src2pkg: 1. The file 'FAQ' answers some of the most frequently asked questions, and is a good place to start learning about src2pkg. 2. Technical details and specifications can be found in the file 'Technical'. 3. The file 'Tutorial' contains a fairly short 'course' for getting started using src2pkg to create packages. 4. The file 'Special-files' contains details about special files created or used by src2pkg and 'extra' files which may be needed by some packages or for certain package formats. 5. The file 'CHANGES' contains summarized notes about the most important or visible changes in src2pkg from one version to the next. The file 'ChangeLog' contains a much more detailed record of all changes bewteen versions. 6. The file 'Usage' shows some details about using the various src2pkg options -especially the advanced options. 7. Each of the main tools included with src2pkg displays a help-page and has a man-page which contains somewhat more information on syntax and usage. 8. There is a directory 'examples' in the documentation which contains example build scripts which demonstrate both basic and advanced usage of *.src2pkg scripts. Also, the authors' internet site at http://amigolinux.org has a repository which includes over 1,000 programs and libraries with the source code, any extra files and the src2pkg script used to build each one. The author is always glad to answer email regarding src2pkg, but please try to find the answer to any questions you have by reading the documentation first. Questions, comments, suggestions or bug reports/fixes can be addressed to: Gilbert Ashley Be sure to include the word 'src2pkg' in the subject line of the email to ensure that your email is noticed and not filtered out by anti-spam software. License: src2pkg and all the tools included are released under the GPL license. A copy is included in the src2pkg package.