Ubuntu Packaging

Grass Package Repositories

Organisation

• GRASS packages are provided by different repositories.
• They are mostely distihuished by their level of up-to-dateness in respect to the GRASS source code.

Overview and Sources

An overview is given in the following table:

Repository	Type	Update Frequency	Status	Current version	Source	Details	Link
Official Ubuntu Repositories	universe	Only updated before each Ubuntu release	Stable at time of import	6.4.2-2	Imported from Debian repositories		[http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=grass&searchon=names&exact=1&suite=all&section=all Overview]
UbuntuGIS	stable	?	Stable at time of packaging	6.4.2	?		ubuntugis-stable
UbuntuGIS	unstable	?	Unstable at time of packaging	6.4.2~x	?		ubuntugis-unstable
UbuntuGIS	testing	?	Very unstable at time of packaging	6.4.3-1~x 7.0-1~x	?		ubuntugis-testing
GRASS PPA	stable	Daily upon change of GRASS source code	Most recent fixes and backports to stable series	6.4.2+2	Imported from GRASS SVN of releasebranch_6_4		[file:///home/hotryce/Dokumente/GRASS%20Packages:%20Stable%20Series GRASS Packages: Stable Series]
GRASS PPA	unstable	Daily upon change of GRASS source code	Very unstable but latest development code	7.0.x	Imported from GRASS SVN trunk		GRASS Packages: Development Series

GRASS on Launchpad (LP)

Organisation

• GRASS team
  • GRASS team
  • individuals which are dedicated to work on GRASS packaging for Ubuntu
  • Any user and developer is free and welcome to join!
  • New active members are needed!
  • Umbrella organisation for activities around GRASS on Launchpad
• GRASS GIS Project
  • The GRASS LP project
  • Umbrella project for all activities related to the GRASS core such as
    • code: Bazaar branches of GRASS GIS Project
• other future projects could be
  • Automatic packaging of AddOns
  • Further integration of GRASS in Ubntu
  • Link to Live-CD projects such as OSGeo-Live

Others (UbuntuGIS)

• https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuGIS
• http://trac.osgeo.org/ubuntugis/
• https://launchpad.net/~ubuntugis

Source Code

The source code is managed in a structure corresponding to the above organisation

• Latest SVN imports
  • stable from SVN releasebranch_6_4
  • development from SVN trunk
• Bazaar branches for “grass” package in Ubuntu
  • Used by Ubuntu packages for the official packages

GRASS Packaging

Offical Ubuntu Packages

To be added.

UbuntuGIS Packages

To be added.

GRASS PPA Packages

• Built by Launchpad using GRASS build recipes
• Either built daily (stable code) or upon request (development code)

Process

1. GRASS source code is regularly imported upon change by LP (destination: see above)
2. If source has changed, the package is build by
   1. nesting the debian package files (e.g. from lp:~grass/grass/grass64_release_debian for the 6.4.x stable series) in the original source (e.g. lp:~grass/grass/releasebranch_6_4 for the 6.4.x stable series)
   2. run the build process on LP for the chosen Ubuntu releases according to the instructions in the debian files (e.g. ~grass/grass/grass64_release_debian)
   3. Upload the package to the respective archive / PPA (e.g. GRASS Packages: Stable Series for 6.4.x stable series)

What do to on errors in the packaging process

• If a package build fails, its most likely that there were changes in the upstream GRASS SVN
• Then the debian files outlined above must be adapted:
  • branch the code of the debian files Bazaar (bzr) repository from launchpad
  • make the necessary changes locally
  • prepare the source running the recipe locally using
    • bzr dailydeb
    • bzr build
  • tests the build process on your machine using
    • pbuilder (recommended), or
    • dpkg-buildpackage (etc.)

Actions where help is needed

Outstanding tasks are:

• check the correct update & daily builds for GRASS 6.4.x
• Check if the upgrade to the next Ubntu release (13.04) does not affect the packages
• make the GRASS 7.0.x package failsave so that it can be activated for daily builds

Interested contributors, please come in here and give something back to the GRASS community!