Detrivative Dist Compare

Installation

TODO

Usage

Minimal usage:

derivative-dist-compare -f ./config-file.yml

Manual Page:

usage: derivative-dist-compare [-h] [-d] [-l LOG_FILE] -f CONFIG_FILE [-j JSON_OUTPUT] [-o HTML_OUTPUT]

Debian package tracker for derivative distributions

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d, --debug           Enable debug mode
  -l LOG_FILE, --log-file LOG_FILE
                        Log file location
  -f CONFIG_FILE, --config-file CONFIG_FILE
                        Config file
  -j JSON_OUTPUT, --json-output JSON_OUTPUT
                        Json output file
  -o HTML_OUTPUT, --html-output HTML_OUTPUT
                        HTML output file

Configuration File Documentation

This configuration file defines settings for a package tracking system that compares packages across different Debian distributions and architectures.

cache-dir

Type: String
Default: /var/cache/derivative-dist-compare
Description: Defines a temporary location to fetch each distribution's apt repositories.

Example:

cache-dir: /tmp/test

archs

Type: List of strings
Default: Current system architecture
Description: Defines a list of Debian architectures to include in the comparison.

Example:

archs:
  - amd64
  - arm64

distros

Type: Object
Description: Defines the list of distributions, either parent distributions or derivatives.

Each distribution entry can have the following properties:

• sources.list or sources: Repository configuration
  • Use sources.list for traditional apt format
  • Use sources for DEB822 format
• preferences (optional): APT preferences for package pinning
• parent (optional): For derivative distributions, specifies the parent distribution to compare against
• vendor-suffix (optional): Adjusts version comparison for derivative distributions

Parent Distributions

distros:
  sid:
    sources.list: |
      deb http://deb.debian.org/debian sid main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
      deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

Derivative Distributions

distros:
  trixie-fastforward-backports:
    parent: sid
    vendor-suffix: ffwd
    sources: |
      Types: deb
      URIs: https://deb.fastforward.debian.net/debian-fastforward
      Suites: trixie-fastforward-backports
      Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

Using APT Preferences

APT preferences can be used to control package selection and pinning:

distros:
  debian-experimental:
    sources.list: |
      deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    preferences: |
      Package: git:* git*:*
      Pin: version /next/
      Pin-Priority: -1

Common preference examples:

• Pin by version pattern: Pin: version 54.0.*
• Pin by origin: Pin: origin "example.com"
• Pin by suite: Pin: release a=stable
• Pin priority values:
  • 1000+: Always install this version
  • 990: Used for versions from the target release
  • 500: Used for versions from normal archives
  • 100: Used for installed packages
  • -1: Never install this version

package-sets

Type: Object
Description: Defines logical groupings of source packages for organizational purposes. When sorted, the HTML table will display packages organized by these sets.

• Key: Set name (used as identifier)
• Value: List of source packages to include in this set

Configuration Example

cache-dir: /tmp

archs:
  - amd64
  - arm64

distros:
  # Parent distributions
  sid:
    bugs-url: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?repeatmerged=no&src=
    tracker-url: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/
    sources.list: |
      deb http://deb.debian.org/debian sid main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
      deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    # Optional apt pinning
    preferences: |
      Package: src:git:any
      Pin: version /next/
      Pin-Priority: -1

      Package: src:libreoffice:any
      Pin: version /rc1/
      Pin-Priority: -1

      Package: src:openvpn:any
      Pin: version /rc1/
      Pin-Priority: -1

  # Derivative distributions
  trixie-fastforward-backports:
    parent: sid
    vendor-suffix: ffwd
    sources: |
      Types: deb
      URIs: https://deb.fastforward.debian.net/debian-fastforward
      Suites: trixie-fastforward-backports
      Components: main contrib non-free non-free-firmware

package-sets:
  web:
    - bootstrap-html
    - bootstrap-icons
    - haproxy
  
  python:
    - jinjax

This configuration enables tracking and comparison of packages across different Debian distributions and architectures, with organized package sets for better management and display.

Development Setup

To get started with the development of Detrivative Dist Compare, you need to create a Python virtual environment. This ensures that your development environment is isolated and you can easily manage dependencies.

1. Create the virtual environment:

   Run the following command to create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv .venv
   

   This command creates a virtual environment in the .venv directory while giving access to globally installed packages. This is required to utilize system-wide packages python3-apt.

2. Activate the virtual environment:

   source .venv/bin/activate
   

3. Make apt and apt_pkg available in the virtual environment:

   Since the apt and apt_pkg modules are part of the system-wide packages, you need to link them manually into your virtual environment:

   ln -s /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt_pkg.cpython-311-x86_64-linux-gnu.so .venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/
   ln -s /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/apt .venv/lib/python3.11/site-packages/
   

   These commands create symbolic links to make apt and apt_pkg accessible in your virtual environment.

4. Install project dependencies:

   Once the virtual environment is active, install the necessary dependencies using pip:

   pip install -e .
   

   This will install all the required libraries and packages for the project.