[Bug 2077547] [NEW] sbuild tries to install dose3 which is not in main

Wed Aug 21 14:03:05 UTC 2024

Public bug reported:

The sbuild package is part of the Ubuntu main archive [1]. It can be used to
build packages reproducibly using chroots. This is especially useful to build
packages for Debian and multiple Ubuntu releases on a single system.

According to sbuild.conf(5), sbuild defaults to `dose3` for its
`BD_UNINSTALLABLE_EXPLAINER` configuration [2]. It is used for explaining build
dependency installation failures.

If such failure happen, sbuild tries to install the `dose-distcheck` binary
package, built from the `dose3` source package. This currently fails when
working on a chroot that only has Ubuntu `main` enabled.

The reason is that the `dose3` source package is not part of main, but part of
universe [3].

This means that if a uninstallable error happens while working on a pure `main`
Ubuntu chroot happens, we need to create a new chroot with `universe` enabled
to debug the error. This takes a lot of time and investigation to figure out
that `dose3` is not available in main.

A solution would be to patch the sbuild package to not use
`dose3` by default but `apt` instead or if `dose-distcheck` is not found.

However, it seems that `dose3` is the
default for a good reason. I believe that it is more advanced than the `apt`
explainer. Doing this would reduce the quality of the tooling we use in
Ubuntu compared to Debian.

Another solution would be to create a MIR for `dose3`, but it B-D on ocaml
and on many ocaml libraries. Getting all of ocaml into main may be undesirable.

** Affects: sbuild (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

** Description changed:

  The sbuild package is part of the Ubuntu main archive [1]. It can be used to
  build packages reproducibly using chroots. This is especially useful to build
  packages for Debian and multiple Ubuntu releases on a single system.

  According to sbuild.conf(5), sbuild defaults to `dose3` for its
  `BD_UNINSTALLABLE_EXPLAINER` configuration [2]. It is used for explaining build
  dependency installation failures.

  If such failure happen, sbuild tries to install the `dose-distcheck` binary
  package, built from the `dose3` source package. This currently fails when
- working on a chroot that only has `main` enabled.
+ working on a chroot that only has Ubuntu `main` enabled.

  The reason is that the `dose3` source package is not part of main, but part of
  universe [3].

  This means that if a uninstallable error happens while working on a pure `main`
  Ubuntu chroot happens, we need to create a new chroot with `universe` enabled
  to debug the error. This takes a lot of time and investigation to figure out
  that `dose3` is not available in main.

  A solution would be to patch the sbuild package to not use
  `dose3` by default but `apt` instead or if `dose-distcheck` is not found.

  However, it seems that `dose3` is the
  default for a good reason. I believe that it is more advanced than the `apt`
  explainer. Doing this would reduce the quality of the tooling we use in
  Ubuntu compared to Debian.

  Another solution would be to create a MIR for `dose3`, but it B-D on ocaml
  and on many ocaml libraries. Getting all of ocaml into main may be undesirable.

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2077547

Title:
  sbuild tries to install dose3 which is not in main

Status in sbuild package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  The sbuild package is part of the Ubuntu main archive [1]. It can be used to
  build packages reproducibly using chroots. This is especially useful to build
  packages for Debian and multiple Ubuntu releases on a single system.