zstd support in python-debian

[Jelmer Vernooij]

Hi Quirin,

On Wed, Apr 13, 2022 at 02:02:42PM +0000, Quirin Pamp wrote:
> I am the primary maintainer of the pulp_deb plugin (https://github.com/pulp/pulp_deb/) of the pulp project (https://pulpproject.org/).
> The plugin uses python-debian as its primary dependency.
> 
> Since Ubuntu has started using zstd compression for their deb packages starting with Ubuntu impish, we have not been able to upload such packages to our software: https://github.com/pulp/pulp_deb/issues/459
> 
> I have now successfully tested the following MR from your source repo, which appears to fix the problem (so long as the zstd program is independently available): https://salsa.debian.org/python-debian-team/python-debian/-/merge_requests/79
> I also tried registering an account on your GitLab instance, so I might comment directly on the MR, which is pending administrator approval.

The MR looks reasonable to me at a first glance (it'd be nice to use
python-zstd rather than the zstd command-line tool, but that's not a blocker
for landing it I think).

> My question is if there are any plans to release a version of python-debian that includes the above MR?
I'm not sure how I would describe our philosophy here - I think generally we're pretty open to doing a new release if there's something that warrants it.

> I was also wondering if there is any way I can get more directly involved with python-debian development/maintenance, since this will likely not be the last time we have some need regarding this library?
Perhaps the best way to start is to either work on something that you need yourself; the bug tracker is a good source of inspiration for this.

In general, we're happy to help out with design advice here or on the MR. If you fail to get a response - please do ping us.

Cheers,

Jelmer