[Distutils] How to create deb package

[Ben Finney]

Lumír Jasiok <lumir.jasiok at vsb.cz> writes:

> I need to create .deb package from source package. I am using
> distutils.

To create a Debian package requires more input from the person doing
the packaging than what distutils usually requires.

Packages of Python distributions for Debian are constructed using the
usual Debian tools, including creating a 'debian/rules' file with the
required targets and whatever specific actions need to be performed in
those targets.

For invoking distutils, usually the 'build' and 'install' targets will
invoke the 'setup.py' (with 'build' or 'install' respectively) and use
the packages 'python-central' or 'python-support' to gather the
resulting files into the correct places for a Debian package.

> Is there some working bdist_deb extension? What is best practices at
> this case?

I don't know what efforts there may be in that direction, but it would
certainly require a significant amount of input from the person doing
the packaging; more than can be found in an average package from PyPI.

That input is usually provided by just following the process of
building any Debian package, whether Python or not, using Debian
developer tools (including the Python-specific 'python-central' or
'python-support' packages) instead of building it into distutils.

-- 
 \        “Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?” “Wuh, I think |
  `\   so, Brain, but if we didn't have ears, we'd look like weasels.” |
_o__)                                           —_Pinky and The Brain_ |
Ben Finney