--- name: "splitout_tdeb" section: "1" platform: "linux" package: "emdebian-tdeb" version: "3.0.7" release: "Debian 7 (Wheezy)" platforms: ["linux"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/splitout_tdeb" --- # splitout\_tdeb(1) splits out a Debian TDeb from a .deb on-the-fly ## NAME splitout\_tdeb - splits out a Debian TDeb from a .deb on-the-fly ## Description Splits a Debian package into a Debian TDeb and a smaller Debian package by unpacking, moving relevant files and repacking with a note in the description and the +t1 version suffix. When creating a repository containing TDebs, it is strongly recommended to specify .changes files so that the repository can include the original sources, for legal reasons. If a file exists with the same name in the output directory, it will be overwritten. ## Copyright and Licence ``` Copyright (C) 1997-2000 Roman Hodek Copyright (C) 2000-2002 Colin Watson Copyright (C) 2002-2004 David Schleef Copyright (C) 2004 Nikita Youshchenko Copyright (C) 2004 Raphael Bossek Copyright (C) 2007-2008 Neil Williams This package is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see . ``` ## Converting to TDebs The idea here is based on dpkg-cross: ``` 1. receive .deb or .changes as a command-line option 2. unpack the .deb as dpkg-cross does 3. create control data for the new TDeb 4. relocate files into the TDeb 5. repack the .deb with a TDeb version suffix. 6. rebuild the original .deb and revise .changes so that the original source can be retained. ``` As few dependencies as possible - this script should be transformed into more usable TDeb support. Future versions will also have to understand Dpkg Classes but until those are implemented, this uses brute force. ## Automation Relatively simple, but a few checks are needed in case your list of possible packages includes packages already processed by dpkg-cross. ``` #!/bin/sh set -e DIR=/tmp/myrepo/ for deb in `ls /var/cache/apt/archives/*.deb`; do cross=`echo $deb | grep "\-.*-cross" || true` if [ ! -z "$cross" ]; then echo "skipping dpkg-cross package: $deb" continue fi /usr/share/emdebian-tools/splitout_tdeb -o $DIR $deb done ``` A similar script should be able to cope with obtaining .changes files to retain the source packages. Despite using dcut internally, splitout\_tdeb isn't set up to obtain the .changes files directly from http://incoming.debian.org, a wrapper script would be needed. An additional wrapper is likely to be needed to allow a TDeb repository to "catch-up" with the existing Debian mirrors, e.g. if the first upload to the TDeb repository is a binary-only upload without a referenced .orig.tar.gz. See emdebian-grip for how this could work. splitout\_tdeb does ensure that the .tar.gz is copied into the output directory and reprepro can locate the relevant files if the --ignore=missingfile option is passed. Sadly, this functionality is not preserved in the reprepro processincoming mode. ## Problems Many. :-) Needs more work, probably to allow (or make default) the option \*not\* to rebuild the binary package but that depends on the binary already supporting a TDeb. Right now, this is a quick hack to get some TDebs easily. splitout\_tdeb probably does not deserve to go into a stable release, the support should be implemented directly within the Debian builds. The TDeb generated uses the **source package name** which will complicate things if you try to generate TDebs from binaries belonging to the same source package - use dpkg-gentdeb or dh\_gentdeb from within the (native) package build instead. Also, strict dependencies are not altered by splitout\_tdeb - if another package (typically from the same source package) has a strict dependency on a package rebuilt by splitout\_tdeb, that package is likely to become uninstallable. i.e. if foo depends on bar (= 1.2.3-4) and bar is rebuilt by splitout\_deb, bar will become 1.2.3-4+t1 and foo will be uninstallable. As above, the solution is to prepare the TDeb from within the normal package build. emdebian-grip has also solved this problem but splitout\_tdeb is only a convenience script and does not (yet) use this support. Use the --verbose option to see the generated control file content of the TDeb and the modified binary package. splitout\_tdeb also does not (yet) support +t2 or other revisions of the TDeb - this needs support in dpkg for .diff1.gz so that the +t2 can be uploaded without affecting the binary package(s). The entire mechanism for how translators will update TDebs is yet to be implemented.