Topic: Bounty for Debian Maintainer to package Bitcoin Armory - page 2. (Read 7882 times)

We're getting there! :-)

Ente

Hi everyone,

I have an update on the status of Armory in Debian. I had some slowdowns, but Armory is now in the New Queue. The New Queue is a list of packages that haven't been uploaded previously. They need to be reviewed manually. I am not sure how long it will take to review Armory. Once Armory is reviewed, it will become part of Debian unstable (sid) and eventually migrate to Debian testing after 5 days. The version of Armory being uploaded is the latest (0.92.3).

The new queue: https://ftp-master.debian.org/new.html

Joseph

Thank you again for the interesting insights!
I read through that "bug" discussion, all sides made good points. This really is a much more complicated situation than it seems at first glance.
Shows how young Bitcoin still is, not?

Cheers,

Ente

It is not already in Jessie, but it should be soon.

If you want a program in Debian, you file a RFP (Request for Package) (only if someone has not already filed a RFP for that program). That lets people know that there is someone interested in seeing the program packaged. See here for more information. You can use the reportbug tool or email [email protected]. Ideally more than one person would like to see the program in Debian, since someone is going to have to take the time to maintain the program in Debian, and there is already a lot of software in Debian. People can reply to your RFP to express their interest.

If someone is interested in packaging a program for Debian, they file an ITP (Intent to Package). Either they change the title of an existing RFP to ITP or they file a new ITP if no RFP exists.

Once an ITP is filed, you work on the package. I can go into more detail if you are interested. Once you are done with the package, you need a sponsor who is a Debian Developer to review it and upload it to the Debian archive. Then the package goes through the process in my last post. Note that packages always start out in unstable (sid), progress to testing (currently Jessie), and then, once a new release happens, go to stable (currently Wheezy).

If you want to see all the RFP and ITP bugs, you can check out http://wnpp.debian.net/. It also includes ITA (Intent to Adopt), O (Orphaned, meaning the maintainer has abandoned a package), RFA (Request for Adoption, meaning the maintainer wants someone else to maintain), and RFH (Request for Help, meaning the maintainer wants a co-maintainer). Any orphaned packages not adopted will be dropped from the next release (Jessie).

There are some RFPs for other Bitcoin software. There is Multibit and Bitcoinj, but Multibit needs Bitcoinj first, and it looks like nobody is working on Bitcoinj. There is also a Bitcoin trading application called Bitcointrader.

Armory doesn't technically depend on Bitcoin Core, because it runs without Bitcoin Core, so it is not listed as a dependency for the package. Bitcoin Core is available as part of Debian, but it is only in unstable and is split into bitcoin-qt and bitcoind. The reason it is only in unstable is this bug. Essentially they filed a critical bug to prevent bitcoin-qt and bitcoind from migrating to testing, because they don't want Bitcoin Core in the stable release, because then it would get outdated. It is okay to be in unstable, because then the maintainers can release a new version and it would go directly to unstable, unlike stable, which would only get updated when there is a new version of Debian. We feel like Armory doesn't have the same issues, since it offloads the network communication work to Bitcoin Core. So we don't have to worry about network consensus issues. So we can have Armory in testing and stable.

Awesome! :-)
This sounds like we are very close now! Excellent work, thank you!
Already in Jessie? Whoa!

Who decides if a (stable) makes it into a repo? Like, would any program be accepted? Or is there an entry limit to only have programs which will be used by many people, or the like?

Normally, Armory depends on bitcoin-core. Which is not in the repos. How is that dealt with?
Probably not at all, as Armory works in offline mode too, without bitcoin-core installed? So I guess bitcoin-core is not listed as dependency in the to-be Armory package?

Ente

I have 0.92.2-testing packaged (as 0.92.1+20140910git4305b08-1) and I think it is almost ready for upload to the Debian archive! My plan is to get 0.92.2-testing uploaded and then package 0.92.2 proper when it is released.

I am just waiting on my sponsor to do a final review of the package. Once that happens and he uploads Armory to Debian, it will be in the new queue. The new queue is where new packages get reviewed. Once Armory passes the new queue it will enter sid, the unstable release. After five days of being in sid, the package will migrate to testing (Jessie). If that happens before Nov 5, then Armory will be in Jessie when it becomes the next stable release. Armory won't be part of Wheezy, but I can package it as part of Wheezy backports so that people with backports enabled can install it. Adding a package to backports involves recompiling the testing version of software for the stable distribution.

I hope this gave you some insight into the process a new package goes through and how it is progressing for Armory.

Welcome to Bitcointalk!

..and thank you, again, for the work you do!
It's much appreciated here!

Cheers,

Ente

Hi,

Yes I am working on packaging Armory. I actually have 0.92.1 packaged, but I am going to wait for the next version to be released and package that due the privacy issues that came to light recently.

I hope to get Armory into testing in time for the Jessie freeze. Then I will also look into getting Armory into wheezy backports.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Feel free to also email me at joseph.bisch [AT] gmail.com.

Yep, same guy that filed the ITP.

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=739405

There's josephbisch on reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2c20sa/armory_092_released_now_with_multisig/cjbx2ko


Ente

Someone filed an ITP (intent to package).

I want Armory to be in Debian repos!

However..
- It only makes sense when all dependencies are there too. Especially bitcoin-core, which isn't there as far as I know.
- bitcoin-core and Armory would have to be updated in the repo quickly when an update is available. Noone wants outdated nodes out there, vulnerable to the latest bitcoin-stealing bug which is already updated and publically known..
- It would have to be in the regular, stable repo. At least at some point. People who mess with "unstable" or "backports" won't have problems installing Armory the regular way. I, at least, would rather stick to the regular way.

I don't know if those points can be solved any time soon.
To help out, I'll double the (still unknown) bounty you started. At least within reasonable limits and if the outcome seems worthwile.

Ente

Armory's Ubuntu .deb installs and runs on Debian.

cool. We will wait I guess bounty should be from 0.2 - 1 BTC

I haven't come up with a bounty amount yet. Looking forward to what others reply.

I am IT engineer so just need to sit on it and try to do it  )
I did not say I will complete it and mae it work - but I will give it a try when I will find some spare time.

I have a lot of thing on my head to do ... but this project is interesting.

Have you ever maintained a package for Debian before? It's not a walk in the park.

that's nice and results are going to be useful
I would give a try but I need a time and perhaps nice to know what is your minimum bounty?

I'm just throwing this out here because I'm not really sure where else to put it.

I would very much like to see Bitcoin Armory packaged for Debian so that I can install from the Jessie repo. I'm willing to put a bounty on the maintainer who packages Bitcoin Armory for Debian. I'm not sure how much. I'd like to know if anybody else would be willing to donate to the bounty and how much is a reasonable amount for such a request.

I've created a bug report for a Request For Package. But so far nobody has put in the Intent To Package bug report.

Anywho, just throwing this out there. If you're a Debian Maintainer or know of one who would be willing to package Armory say so here please.