[Pkg-x2go-devel] new strategy for building NX libraries

[Mike Gabriel]

Hi all,

after a chat with Reinhard this noon, we (X2Go packagers/upstreamers)  
will change the strategy for building NoMachine library packages for  
Debian based systems.

We have discovered that the functionality of the libxcomp* packages is  
mid-heavily broken if they (probably esp. the libxcompext package) are  
not built against NoMachine's X server nx-X11 but built against the  
distro's own X-Server code. The newer the distro's X-Server seems to  
be the greater the problems seem to become.

Thus, we have set up the nx-libs.git project on the X2Go Git site:
http://code.x2go.org/gitweb?p=nx-libs.git;a=summary

In the test branch of that repository you can find a dirtily hacked  
proof of concept.

Proof in that context means: we (X2Go upstream) had tremendous  
problems with crashing x2goagent sessions (X2Go's pendant to nxagent)  
and we could narrow it down to the way we build the NX lib packages.  
So far, we used to build each NoMachine source tarball as a separate  
.deb source package.

The source tree of the test branch of nx-libs.git shows the structure  
of the new package strategy. It already builds most of NX properly  
(most of... means: the -dev packages are not complete yet).

However, the test branch is a dirty hack in terms of upstream release  
history etc. Thus, Reinhard has agreed on cleanly importing NoMachine  
upstream tarballs of the missing code projects nxcomp, nxcompshad,  
nxcompext and merge(?) them into the master branch.

Once this is done, I will add patches (via quilt) and place the  
/debian folder from the test branch into the master branch.

X2Go will from then on use these NX libraries in their Repositories.  
.deb packages will bear a new package version number:

   old: 3.5.0-X-Y~x2go1...
   new: 2:3.5.0-0~x2go1...

Also: as we pull several NoMachine upstream source projects into one  
big source package, we will not be able to fully map the version  
numbers as used by NoMachine, e.g.

   nxcomp 3.5.0-2
   nxcompext 2.5.0-1
   ...

will all be pulled into

   nx-libs 3.5.0

What packages with what exact version numbers are included in that big  
source package has to be documented elsewise (e.g. a README,  
debian/changelog, etc.).

BTW: nx-libs will also have nxauth and nxagent as fall-out (not such a  
nice word...). So X2Go's nx-libs.git project can also be interesting  
for other NX related projects.

@Stephane, RT: I guess that this piece of information might also be  
helpful to the FreeNX people. Are you in contact with any of the  
developers? Maybe it would be good to point them at this mail?

Greets,
Mike


-- 

DAS-NETZWERKTEAM
mike gabriel, dorfstr. 27, 24245 barmissen
fon: +49 (4302) 281418, fax: +49 (4302) 281419

GnuPG Key ID 0xB588399B
mail: mike.gabriel at das-netzwerkteam.de, http://das-netzwerkteam.de

freeBusy:
https://mail.das-netzwerkteam.de/freebusy/m.gabriel%40das-netzwerkteam.de.xfb
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 490 bytes
Desc: Digitale PGP-Unterschrift
URL: <http://lists.alioth.debian.org/pipermail/pkg-x2go-devel/attachments/20111109/8b840b3d/attachment.pgp>