First release?

[zdohnal]

Hi Till,

I'm working on packaging new split cups-filters projects right now and I saw braille-printer-app hasn't had a release yet - is the project ready for distributions?
I'll use git snapshot for now, but it would be great to have a release (if the project is ready) or put it back to cups-filters project (if we want to ship at least new libcupsfilters and libppd).

[tillkamppeter]

I have held back the release of braille-printer-app because the transition to the new Printer Application format is in the works (PR #1), therefore I also chose this name for this part. Currently, the repo only contains the files coming from the old cups-filters. which make up a classic CUPS driver. The plans are that on an build, controlled by ./configure command line options the classic driver, the Printer Application, or both. Distro packagers then build what they need and provide appropriate binary packages coming from the braille-printer-app source package for the user to install.

The Printer Application transition was done by a GSoC contributor in 2022 and now, when he created the mentioned PR, a bug appeared and this was holding us back. We will fix this soon.

Please do not add the files to the cups-filters binary package, to avoid complications with the RPM packages and need of versioned dependencies between them. When is your deadline/Feature Freeze?

[zdohnal]

I have held back the release of braille-printer-app because the transition to the new Printer Application format is in the works (PR #1), therefore I also chose this name for this part. Currently, the repo only contains the files coming from the old cups-filters. which make up a classic CUPS driver. The plans are that on an build, controlled by ./configure command line options the classic driver, the Printer Application, or both. Distro packagers then build what they need and provide appropriate binary packages coming from the braille-printer-app source package for the user to install.

Ok.

The Printer Application transition was done by a GSoC contributor in 2022 and now, when he created the mentioned PR, a bug appeared and this was holding us back. We will fix this soon.

Please do not add the files to the cups-filters binary package, to avoid complications with the RPM packages and need of versioned dependencies between them. When is your deadline/Feature Freeze?

Next Tuesday (Feb 7th) is deadline for any changes to be testable for Fedora 38 - so in my case the packages have to be available somewhere (in my case in COPR) for users to install them and test them, so I've created a git snapshot of the current HEAD of braille-printer-app project - it should be okay for now, but a release would be great.

How did you solve it when packaging the project for Debian?

[tillkamppeter]

I did not yet make a Debian package from this.

But for urgent needs, one can already ./configure; make; make install this package but. in contrary to what the package's name is promising, you simply get the classic CUPS driver for Braille embossers installed. So by packaging this as classic CUPS driver for now you can assure that the next Fedora will support the same Braille embossers as the current one.

Later on, the Printer Application functionality will added and the user will be able to select by ./configure options whether the Printer Application or the classic CUPS driver will get built.

[zdohnal]

I did not yet make a Debian package from this.

Aha, so packaging new cups-filters architecture is not only waiting because Debian is now in devel freeze, but also because Braille printer application is not finished. I thought the devel freeze was the only reason and thought the architecture is ready for packaging as it is.

Ok, so I'll package the project as it is to protect the functionality and have a new architecture for other projects.

[tillkamppeter]

Due to the fact that Debian is in freeze now and Ubuntu's freeze is only end-February I have still some time with the packaging. Therefore I was no rushing with the Debian packaging of braille-printer-app.

So you should, as you say, for now package the Braille driver with which we have now.

[tillkamppeter]

The new cups-filters works as well with Printer Applications and classic CUPS drivers, so having switched to cups-filters 2.x does not make it urgent to switch all drivers to Printer Applications. This switchover is only needed for CUPS 3.x and it is good to already have updated cups-fikters, to already find and fix bugs before the arrival of CUPS 3.x.