Re: Ada package registry?

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On 2016-01-30 23:14, Tero Koskinen wrote:

> Usually the repositories are maintained in "wiki"-style and anyone can
> update the package details (within certain limits). This causes some
> security concerns/implications, but in general there is not that much
> abuse and the repositories work well enough.
>
> The package repository management tool is used like this:
>
>   $ language_package_mananager install X
>   Downloading dependencies for 'X', please wait a while...
>   Downloading X...
>   Package 'X' installed!
>   $

Yes, the problem is to have it working.

> Once the package (a library usually) is installed (to your home
> directory), you can link it to your program and simply use it.

No, that the point. It cannot be installed in your home directory. It 
must be in the directories mandated by the target system policy. E.g. 
for Debian Linux:

https://people.debian.org/~lbrenta/debian-ada-policy.html#Files-provided-by-the-_002ddev-package

> People using other programming languages have managed to create
> these package repositories, so it is a shame if Ada programmers
> cannot manage to do the same.

I guess these are scripting languages and pure packages having no access 
to the system environment otherwise than through the language run-time. 
There is no problem to do same for GNAT. That is not Ada case. Most Ada 
packages do access platform-specific non-Ada libraries. Pure Ada 
packages face no problem, if gpr file is provided.

> You of course need to solve many problems related to this domain,
> but they are already solved by others, so one should be able to
> copy the design and just do the Ada implementation.
>
> On the other hand, one could think that the package management
> systems provides by Linux distributions and BSD operating systems
> are enough. But generally, these are not that flexible.

But you cannot work around them. E.g. GtkAda must recursively install 
Gtk, GObject, LibC, whatever, which are target system's packages, under 
the target system's repository.


-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de