[Pkg-fonts-bugs] Bug#806025: fontforge: FTBFS when built with dpkg-buildpackage -A (No such file or directory)

[Santiago Vila]

Package: src:fontforge
Version: 20120731.b-5
User: sanvila at debian.org
Usertags: binary-indep
Severity: important

Dear maintainer:

I tried to build this package with "dpkg-buildpackage -A"
(i.e. only architecture-independent packages), and it failed:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[...]
 fakeroot debian/rules binary-indep
dh binary-indep --parallel --with autotools-dev,python2
   dh_testroot -i -O--parallel
   dh_prep -i -O--parallel
   dh_installdirs -i -O--parallel
   dh_auto_install -i -O--parallel
	make -j1 install DESTDIR=/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/debian/tmp AM_UPDATE_INFO_DIR=no
make[1]: Entering directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>'
mkdir -p /<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/debian/tmp/usr/share/fontforge
( cd Unicode ; make )
make[2]: Entering directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/Unicode'
make[2]: '../libgunicode.la' is up to date.
make[2]: Leaving directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/Unicode'
( cd gutils ; make )
make[2]: Entering directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/gutils'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for 'both'.
make[2]: Leaving directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/gutils'
( cd gdraw ; make )
make[2]: Entering directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/gdraw'
make[2]: '../libgdraw.la' is up to date.
make[2]: Leaving directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/gdraw'
ln -s ./po/*.po po

[... snipped ...]

Writing /<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/debian/tmp/usr/lib/python2.7/site-packages/fontforge-1.0-py2.7.egg-info
make[1]: Leaving directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>'
   debian/rules override_dh_install
make[1]: Entering directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>'
dh_install
find /<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/debian/libfontforge1/usr/lib -name "*.la" -delete
find: `/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>/debian/libfontforge1/usr/lib': No such file or directory
debian/rules:33: recipe for target 'override_dh_install' failed
make[1]: *** [override_dh_install] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory '/<<PKGBUILDDIR>>'
debian/rules:26: recipe for target 'binary-indep' failed
make: *** [binary-indep] Error 2
dpkg-buildpackage: error: fakeroot debian/rules binary-indep gave error exit status 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry not to have a fix, as I am reporting many bugs similar to
this one, but I can give some general hints:

* If all the arch-independent packages are dummy transitional packages
released with jessie, the easy fix is to drop them now.
 
* If not, debian/rules should be modified so that the binary-indep
target works in all cases, even when binary-arch is not used (this is
what the "Architecture: all" autobuilder does). For that:
    
* If you are using debhelper, you might want to use options -a and -i
for dh_* commands so that they do not act on packages they do not
have to act.

* Also, if you are using dh, the (independently) optional targets
override_dh_foo-arch and override_dh_foo-indep (for several values
of "foo") may be useful to write a debian/rules which behaves exactly
as desired.


After checking that both "dpkg-buildpackage -A" and "dpkg-buildpackage -B"
work properly, this package will be suitable to be uploaded in
source-only form if you wish (you might want to try it).

Thanks.