[Debian GNUstep maintainers] pre-announce: GNUstep library transition in Debian

[Hubert Chan]

Hi everyone,

There will be a new GNUstep library release coming up, which will break
binary compatibility with the GNUstep libraries currently in Debian.
(The versions currently in Debian are one release old, and the current
GNUstep release already breaks binary compatibility with what is
currently in Debian.)  Since the new release adds many new features, we
would like to get it into etch if possible.  Since the general freeze
for etch is only a couple of months away, that means that if we want to
make it happen, we'll have to make a very, very smooth library
transition.

So here's what needs to happen:

If you maintain a package that uses the GNUstep libraries, you will need
to change your build-depends.  Instead of build-depending on
libgnustep-gui0.10-dev, you should build-depend on libgnustep-gui-dev,
and instead of libgnustep-base1.11-dev, you should build-depend on
libgnustep-base-dev.  These will be the names of the new -dev packages
for the new GNUstep libraries, which will enable us to do smoother
transitions later on by allowing us to do binNMUs.  (And ftpmaster seems
to prefer those names.)  The current -dev packages already provide those
names, so it should even be safe to upload packages with the new
build-depends, if you were already planning on doing an upload soon.  So
there's no reason to delay making the change.  You can do it right away,
and should do it as soon as possible.  This should be the only change
that you should need to make to your packages.

GNUstep upstream has promised me a new release of GNUstep gui by next
week, and so it should be uploaded by the end of the month.  (It better
be uploaded by then, because I'll be away from reliable Internet for the
beginning of next month.)  I'll send out another announcement once it's
been uploaded (or, at least, once I send the packages to myon to get
uploaded).

Once it is uploaded, and built on all architectures, you will need to
reupload your packages so that it will be rebuilt with the new
libraries.  If you also build-depend on a library that needs to be
rebuilt, make sure you upload after that library has been rebuilt.  (I
think the only such libraries that we have are renaissance, pantomime,
pantomime1.2, popplerkit, addresses-for-gnustep, and
gnustep-netclasses.)

Hopefully this transition will be much smoother than the last one.
There were a couple of things that made the last GNUstep transition very
long, and none of those should happen this time around, so keep your
fingers crossed.  In addition, I'll be aggressively NMUing packages that
need to be reuploaded.  That means that if it has been at least 7 days
since your package could have been uploaded, and it hasn't been uploaded
yet, I will send you a warning, and then I may NMU it shortly thereafter
(since it will be an RC bug).

Looking forward to etch+1, I'd like to start working on a GNUstep
packaging policy, since there are things that we do that should be
documented and clarified.  Hopefully, we will also be able to get the
Etoile components into Debian as well, which should improve the GNUstep
environment.

Finally, here is a list of packages that will need to be rebuilt for the
upcoming transition:

Debian Games Team/Eddy Petrișor:
  oolite

Gürkan Sengün:
  zipper.app
  wrapperfactory.app
  volumecontrol.app
  viewpdf.app
  timemon.app
  textedit.app
  terminal.app
  talksoup.app
  stepulator.app
  stepbill.app
  shisen.app
  rssreader.app
  projectmanager.app
  projectcenter.app
  price.app
  preview.app
  preferences.app
  poe.app
  plopfolio.app
  open.app
  mpdcon.app
  mknfonts.tool
  mines.app
  lynkeos.app
  lusernet.app
  latex.service
  lapispuzzle.app
  ladder.app
  innerspace.app
  helpviewer.app
  gtamsanalyzer.app
  grouch.app
  gridlock.app
  gorm.app
  gomoku.app
  gnuwash.app
  ftp.app
  edenmath.app
  easydiff.app
  displaycalibrator.app
  cynthiune.app
  connect.app
  charmap.app
  cenon.app
  cddb.bundle
  camera.app
  biococoa.app
  batmon.app
  agenda.app
  aclock.app
  (I think you've also adopted these packages from Brent:)
  steptalk
  gnustep-netclasses

Jonathan Shipley:
  gworkspace.app

Vincent Danjean:
  paje.app

me:
  renaissance
  pantomime
  pantomime1.2
  popplerkit.framework
  gnumail.app
  affiche
  addresses-for-gnustep

I think that's it.  Let me know if I've missed any packages, or if I've
misattributed some packages.

-- 
Hubert Chan - email & Jabber: hubert at uhoreg.ca - http://www.uhoreg.ca/
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