Build packages for different distributions?

[Loïc Minier]

On Sat, Jun 12, 2010, Ole Streicher wrote:
> Yes, ofcourse. What I meant is a build system that allows to build the
> packages for > 1 system, by using (almost) the same source. Ubuntu and
> Debian dont differ too much IMO that such a thing should be impossible.

 Sure; you can script around pbuilder to call it multiple times for
 instance.  Using pbuilder with Ubuntu works fine too.

> I am even not a Debian user! I just thought that -- since I already did
> this for Ubuntu -- it would be not a hard work to build (and maintain)
> also Debian packages. However, I dont want to install debian on my
> computer just for this... so I would need an external build environment
> The build routine already includes tests with the compiled package, so
> there is also no need to really manually test them.

 Up to you, but I'd personally rather not provide anything than
 providing untested Debian packages.

> As a slightly different topic: can I use the same debian/ subdirectory
> for different distributions? In my (Ubuntu) case, I have packages for
> 10.04 (lucid), but when the first 10.10 (maverick) beta comes out, I
> would like to build packages for both versions. How would one do that
> with minimal effort?

 Absolutely; most of the time, the same packaging can be used across
 Debian and Ubuntu and between the development and stable versions,
 however it might require adaptations, especially for backports.

 There are many options to provide more or less official backports for
 both distros, which is the most beneficial route for end-users.
 Backports.org is where Debian backports are usually being crafted,
 Ubuntu backports are usually handled by the backport team.  You can
 find more information on the backports.org website and on the Ubuntu
 wikis.

 In all cases, you can setup pbuilder as a tool to build the packages in
 the proper context to prepare the backports.

   Hope this helps,
-- 
Loïc Minier