[ On Monday, July 7, 2003 at 11:10:17 (-0400), David Maxwell wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: Adding brs to pkgsrc
>
> On Sun, Jul 06, 2003 at 06:47:17PM -0700, Bryan Vyhmeister wrote:
> > I have put together an entry for brs, a King James Version Bible
> > program, for pkgsrc. The tarball is available from:
> > 
> > http://www.bsdjournal.net/brs.tar.gz
> > 
> > What is the best way to get this committed? Is send-pr the preferred
> > way? This is the first time I have packaged a program and I am a little
> > unfamiliar with how to submit a package through send-pr. I looked for an
> > example in the database but I could not find one. I read through
> > Packages.txt but that did not clear up all my questions. Could anyone
> > show me an example submission done using send-pr or suggest a better
> > way of doing it? Thank you.
> 
> If you have a server you can post the package on, the best approach is
> to file a PR, with a URL pointing to the package you've built.
> 
> If you don't have a server, it is acceptable to uuencode the package and
> include it in the PR, but it's not the preferred method, since it adds
> bulk (and no real value) to the PR database.

Actually most packages are small and simple enough that you can just use
'shar' to bundle their files together into an e-mail and GNATS-proof form.

As an avid reader of netbsd-bugs I for one would really appreciate it if
everyone would try to always include all information in PRs in a
directly human readable form.  I really "detest" having to pry apart a
tar file that's been uuencoded or BASE64 encoded, and chasing a URL is
not a whole lot more fun, especially if it's not "clickable" in lynx or
links when viewing the PR from the web interface at a later date.  :-)

Remember to include any sub-directories in the shar prior to the files
they contain.  "find . -print" will always put the files and directories
in the right order (assuming your current directory is the top directory
of the pkgsrc module, so this command-line will always do the right
thing (provided you have no junk/work files that are not part of the
sources):

	shar $(find . -print) > $HOME/my-new-pkg.shar

(don't re-direct the output into the current directory or any sub-dir!)

Don't try to cut&paste the shar though!  They are only e-mail and GNATS
proof, not cut&paste proof, especially not from an xterm.  :-)

Just save the shar output to a file and then read that file into the PR
verbatim with your text editor as you run send-pr and then it'll be sent
intact.  (I've always thought send-pr should ask before sending if there
are any files to attach -- i.e. to add an "Attach" option to the menu at
that appears after you exit the editor.)

Don't try to send more than about 64KB in one e-mail either! -)
If your attachment ends up being more thn about 64KB then that's when
it's a acceptable to store it on a server and only provide summary
information and a URL in the PR.

-- 
								Greg A. Woods

+1 416 218-0098;            <g.a.woods@ieee.org>;           <woods@robohack.ca>
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