GODIVA Packaging Policy

The GODIVA Packaging Policy is a collection of rules that a software distribution must follow before it can be packaged into GODI with GODIVA. Some of the rules carry over from GODI itself; some are GODIVA-specific.

For O'Caml Software Authors

Authors who want their code to be easily packageable should adhere to this policy as closely as possible. If it doesn't adhere, the packager is going to have to patch it. This policy tries to be relatively standard and not overly strict.

For GODI Packagers

Packagers should ensure that all software distributions adhere to this policy before attempting to package it with GODIVA -- if the code does not already adhere, it must be patched.

The Policy

Conventions

If a package violates a must rule, it may not work properly with GODI or GODIVA. Following should rules is highly recommended as it simplifies packaging.

1. Distribution.
   Source code should come in a tarball called package-version.tar.gz. This tarball should unpack into a directory called package-version/.
2. Configuration.
   If a package requires a configuration step, it must be performed by an executable called configure.
3. Compilation.
   A package must have one or more make targets for building software and documentation. The names should be as follows:

   [required] 'make all'     builds bytecode versions of your software.
   [optional] 'make opt'     builds native code versions of your software.
   

   If compilation requires knowledge of the final location of the software or documentation, it should consult the ${PREFIX} variable.

4. Installation.
   

   A package must use make install for installation. The specifics are as follows:

   • Libraries must be installed with findlib.
   • Native code versions must be installed if and only if make opt was called previously, i.e. the install commands have to to examine the state of the source directory and act accordingly.
   • All files must be installed under ${PREFIX} (for libraries installing via findlib, this is taken care of automatically). Note that this is true even in the case that the current ${PREFIX} differs from the ${PREFIX} setting from a previous make invocation. The specific locations should be:
     • Binaries go in ${PREFIX}/bin
     • Man pages go in ${PREFIX}/man/man<n> (Note: man pages must not be compressed.)
     • Info pages go in ${PREFIX}/info
     • HTML documentation goes in ${PREFIX}/doc/${PKGBASE}/html
     • Other documentation goes in ${PREFIX}/doc/${PKGBASE}
     • Other files related to your package go in ${PREFIX}/share/${PKGBASE}

   Many packages do not adhere to these (GODI-mandated) locations, so packages must often take it upon themselves to patch the makefile.