Package: debian-policy
Version: 3.5.5.0
Severity: wishlist
I'd like to make Debian more friendly to porters and embedded systems.
This patch basically says that packages should support
cross-compilation. Many packages can already be cross compiled so
this is more documenting current practice rather than anything new.
I think this is an important addition to policy because Debian has the
potential to gain a larger user-base through ports and use on embedded
systems.
(The makefile snipped would be better if it was in a footnote since it
is implementation rather than policy, but the <example> tags didn't
work within a footnote.)
Thanks,
David
Here is a possible addition to the 'Debianised source tree' section:
--- policy.sgml.orig Sun Sep 9 23:13:31 2001
+++ policy.sgml Sun Sep 9 23:22:32 2001
@@ -8401,6 +8401,40 @@
targets depend on must also be non-interactive.
</p>
+ <p>
+ The <tt>debian/rules</tt> script should support
+ cross-compilation. Cross-compilation is helpful when
+ porting Debian to new architectures and facilitates use of
+ Debian in embedded environments. Special requirements
+ vary, but in general when cross-compilation is detected
+ <tt>debian/rules</tt> should not execute binaries it has
+ just created. The following makefile snippet is an
+ example of how to detect when a package is being
+ cross-compiled.
+ <example>
+ifneq ($(DEB_BUILD_GNU_TYPE),$(DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE))
+# commands and/or variables for cross build
+else
+# commands and/or variables for native build
+endif
+ </example>
+ In addition, <tt>debian/rules</tt> should allow for target
+ specific configuration via environmental
+ variables.<footnote>
+ <p>
+ To allow for target specific configuration a package
+ should not hard code tool names (gcc, ld, strip, etc.)
+ but should instead use variables (CC, LD, STRIP, etc.)
+ so that the proper tools can be used when cross
+ compiling. In addition, target specific configuration
+ should be possible without access to the target
+ system. For example, a package that uses GNU autoconf,
+ can be configured by priming CONFIG_SITE with
+ pre-determined values.
+ </p>
+ </footnote>
+ </p>
+
<p>
The targets which are required to be present are:
<taglist>
