LinuxQuestions.org - [ANNOUNCE] src2pkg-2.0 and src2pkg-ng-0.0.1

Hello Folks! A new release of src2pkg is available -just in time for those last-minute Christmas packages...

Since the last release in May of this year, a lot of work has gone into the new release of src2pkg. As usual, it has also undergone lots of pre-release testing, so I wouldn't expect any major problems for anyone. Still, if something comes up, please let me know as soon as possible.

The big news this time, is that src2pkg can now create other package formats besides Slackware packages. Quite a lot of code has been added to make this possible, but the core code which creates Slackware packages has not been drastically revised, and should remain stable.

You can now create packages for debian or rpm-based systems using src2pkg, as well as several other more obscure formats. src2pkg itself is also now available packaged in these alternate formats for the same ease of installation and setup as on Slackware.

A few new command-line options have been added, so you'll want to have a look at the man-pages or run 'src2pkg --help' to review the new features. There are also some new options in the src2pkg.conf file, but these are mostly applicable for use when creating non-Slackware packages.
Also, the source-version for the src2pkg-helpers has been upgraded, so if you are upgrading from a previously-installed version of src2pkg, you'll see a prompt that reminds you to run 'src2pkg --setup' to upgrade the src2pkg-helpers.

Many small improvements were made. The new entries in the ChangeLog are around 500 lines, so grab a cup of coffee before sitting down to review the changes...

All of the documentation has been re-written from scratch -I hope some of you actually read it from time to time as I really hate writing it... But, the old docs were hopelessly outdated. The new docs are shorter and hopefully clearer, and since the functionality has changed so much, there was no getting around a re-write.

I am also happy to announce the first public release of src2pkg-ng. src2pkg-ng is a re-write from scratch of src2pkg, by Tim Goya, who has been working on it for quite some time now. Tim has always been, and still is, a great contributor to src2pkg. But, he wanted to start with a fresh slate to address some areas of package-building which are not so well handled by src2pkg itself because of some of its' basic concepts. Tim is a great coder and has put together a really useful tool -even in its' infancy.

src2pkg-ng is much more compact than src2pkg and only works with a valid build script -it does not automatically build packages like src2pkg. But it may offer more flexibility for special types of builds which involve combining multiple sources or creating multiple packages from a single source. I'll leave Tim to answer any questions about src2pkg-ng and what direction he takes with it.

At least for now, src2pkg-ng will be available for download right alongside of src2pkg. If Tim later decides to have it hosted elsewhere then we'll announce that here.

As always, feedback is more than welcome -especially if you run into any problems. Regarding src2pkg, contact me (Gilbert) at: [ amigo AT ibiblio.org ]
I'll leave Tim to post his email address here for questions, suggestions or comments regarding src2pkg-ng.

The installable slackware package of src2pkg-2.0 is here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...-noarch-16.tgz
Edit: I have created and will maintain a symlink to the latest *.tgz package of src2pkg for Slackware, so you can
bookmark a permanent bookmark to it:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...pkg-latest.tgz

Installable packages of other formats, as well as the sources of src2pkg-2.0 are available under this directory:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...g/src2pkg-2.0/

The sources and both *.tgz and *.txz packages of src2pkg-ng-0.0.1 are available under here:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...kg/src2pkg-ng/