[MOTU] Need updated versions of packages... where to ask ?

[Sebastian M=?ISO-8859-1?B?/A==?=sch]

Hi Vincent,

Once upon a time Vincent Trouilliez wrote:
> On Fri, 2005-08-26 at 15:00 +0100, paul cooke wrote:
>> On Friday 26 August 2005 12:13, Vincent Trouilliez wrote:
>> 
>> I think you've just volunteered yourself for the task... ;)
> 
> Well if only I could !!!

You can for sure ... Just read trough the post. Maybe it'll take some time
though. There is no magic behind debianization ;-)

> I tried compiling the latest version of avrdude, but as "expected" ;-/
> it failed. The "./configure --prefix)/usr" works, but the "make" fails
> almost instantly :o(

As somebody told me, the best way of learning is "trial & error". Maybe
you'll need some hints like "install the old flex before compiling" from
time to time, but this list surely would, if you ask.

> I downloaded the latest version of 'avr-libc' and am now reading the
> instructions in it to try to install it.

Reading the original-documentation is fine, but you should use the
additional resources you have. For example: If an application is already
debianizes, although it might be outdated, there are some hints within these
old packages which might be useful ...

Download the source-debian-package of the outdated package "apt-get source
$package". Go through the "debian"-path within the unpacked sources. There
should be at least the "control"-file, which will give you some hints, which
depencies the app has (maybe some are missing for the current version) for
compiling and running, and there should be a "rules"-file which will tell
you, how the old version of the app will get compiled. At last there's an
eMail-address of the maintainer. In most cases you can ask him too, if you
get stuck, or don't know, why he need to patch the app in order to compile
it on debian/ubuntu.

> I looked at 'uisp' and 'simulavr' and they seem to be already up to
> date, so all is well for these.

So maybe somebody only needed the simulator-engine up2date.

> I don't understand why some packages are
> up to date, and others are wayyyy out of date, depsite all of them being
> part of the same tool chain.

Because the person who did the debianization only needed this part of the
tool-chain in a recent version. Or he had to stop working on debianization,
because he got to write an exam. Who knows ...

> More generally, I thought that repositories
> were meant to be up to date in nature !
> Apparently it's more complicated
> than that.... :o(

Linux is "on demand" technology (if something is needed, it will get done),
mostly the demand is defined by people who are able to do the real work
though ... And if an application is stable and has all the features these
people need, why should they do the useless work of staying "up to date".
But that are just my two cents ;-)

For further understanding "How to debianize" a package (and getting some
hints on building etc.), you should read the maintainer guide
http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/maint-guide/index.en.html
It is very helpful if you only need to extract the already existing
information from a debianized package. And if there are problems, you can't
handle, just ask on the list or better, try to get in contact with the
maintainers of the repositories.

Cu
Sebastian

BTW: As an example, my posts on "Threaded and deprecated Qt", maybe helpful,
too. Not on debianization, just to get familar where problems in compilation
may reside ;-)

-- 
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   .`_`-'_`.     Sebastian Müsch
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