[Bug 587345] Re: python-ncrypt does no longer compile in lucid

[Fabrice Coutadeur]

** Also affects: ncrypt (Ubuntu Lucid)
   Importance: Undecided
       Status: New

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python-ncrypt does no longer compile in lucid
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/587345
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Status in “ncrypt” package in Ubuntu: New
Status in “ncrypt” source package in Lucid: New

Bug description:
In lucid, the python-ncrypt binary package is no longer included, because the source (ncrypt 0.6.4-0ubuntu3) no longer compiles; dpkg-buildpackage fails with the following error message:

----snip----
ncrypt_x509.c:1:2: error: #error Do not use this file, it is the result of a failed Pyrex compilation.
error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1
make: *** [debian/python-module-stampdir/python-ncrypt] Error 1
dpkg-buildpackage: error: debian/rules build gave error exit status 2
----snip----

The deeper reason is a compilation step performed by pyrexc (source files ncrypt_x509.pyx and ncrypt_x509.pxd being compiled to ncrypt_x509.c) that fails due to missing declarations:

----snip----
pyrexc ncrypt_x509.pyx --> ncrypt_x509.c
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:131:4: Warning: __new__ method of extension type will change semantics in a future version of Pyrex. Use __cinit__ instead.
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:206:4: Warning: __new__ method of extension type will change semantics in a future version of Pyrex. Use __cinit__ instead.
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:281:25: 'X509Name' is not declared
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:281:25: 'X509Name' is not a type identifier
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:281:4: Only extension type arguments can have 'not None'
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:305:26: 'X509Name' is not declared
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:305:26: 'X509Name' is not a type identifier
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:305:4: Only extension type arguments can have 'not None'
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:342:28: 'ncrypt_rsa' is not declared
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:342:4: Only extension type arguments can have 'not None'
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:409:20: 'ncrypt_rsa' is not declared
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:409:4: Only extension type arguments can have 'not None'
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:410:12: 'ncrypt_digest' is not declared
/tmp/ncrypt-0.6.4/ncrypt_x509.pyx:409:4: Only extension type arguments can have 'not None'
----snip----

While it is not entirely clear to me which change from karmic to lucid has caused this compilation error (I suspect some enforced syntax check settings in the compilers but might be also some change in openssl headers though I found no evidence for that), this issue can be fixed by adding the appropriate forward declarations to ncrypt_x509.pxd.

I have attached a patch with those changes applicable to the source package ncrypt 0.6.4-0ubuntu3.

I would appreciate very much if this patch could be included in the ubuntu source package and if python-ncrypt could again be included in the universe repository, though the issue might also be something that should be fixed upstream (I found one report of the same failure during building ncrypt on Mac OS X, but ncrypt source seems to be unchanged upstream for quite a long time, no idea if there is still an active maintainer upstream...). 

The python-ncrypt package is essential for some 3rd party python programs like CSpace (http://cspace.in/ ; an encrypted cross-platform remote desktop solution working through firewalls, which is a task for which I could not yet find any other tool.