kkremitzki wrote:Would it be worthwhile to do something similar for occt as well if the plan is to package it for Ubuntu?
Couldn't be done with a synchronized mirror like I just did, because the occt repo isn't public and requires authentication. So you'd basically need to do what sgrogan has been doing with the gitmaster repo up to now, that is to clone the FreeCAD github repo then push it to the Launchpad gitmaster repo. Sure it can be automated with a script, but you'd need to do it from your end.
https://code.launchpad.net/~freecad-mai ... /gitmaster
I believe we discussed this in the gigantic OCCT7 migration topic: a synced occt repo with full git history is not absolutely necessary for packaging. The Debian maintainers don't do it. They create a git repo, import the upstream source tarball for a project into it in and add their debian stuff.
See these two examples:
https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/debian- ... eecad.git/
https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/debian- ... s/oce.git/
In our case, it may be easier to manually sync a git repo than dealing with upstream source tarballs, but I don't know git well enough to know for sure. On the other hand, complete git history has its advantages.
As for: is the plan really to package it for Ubuntu?
To be honest, my own plan was never so ambitious: it was solely to package it for our own PPA. To get this package in the Ubuntu repositories is a whole different ball game. For starters, it means getting it in the Debian repositories first. Then it needs to follow the strict rules of Debian packaging. I believe you need to state your intent on their mailing lists, get a mentor, etc.
There's also the matter of deciding what kind of support to include in occt packages: libtbb, vtk, etc. We don't need the latter so we are not enabling it, but if the package is intended for a wide use base, other projects may need it.
One thing I'd like to say Kurt, even though I maintained the PPA for 4 years before sgrogan took charge there's still a lot of things I'm struggling with, like debian/rules makefiles, how they work and how to tailor them. If gdo35 hadn't helped with his script, modified rules file and patch we'd still be stuck.
I think with your programming background you got what it takes to learn more about rules makefiles, this would be of great help to us. And if you really want to package OCCT for debian/ubuntu then go for it! I'll try to give you the help I can but it will quickly reach its limits I'm afraid.
But I understand that your priorities this next summer may lie somewhere else!