Package: autopkgtest Version: 5.5 Severity: normal After reading through bug #870654 (requesting a trivial autopkgtest example) and looking at the example at https://ci.debian.net/doc/file.TUTORIAL.html, I have gleaned that commands for autopkgtest are located through the $PATH environment variable.
If the autopkgtest maintainers would consider defining DESTDIR and the standard GNU variables for installation directories [see https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Directory-Variables.html], then a package built with Autotools ought to be able to perform CI testing with a debian/tests/control file that only contains the line make installcheck as long as the package has a working "make installcheck" implemented. By supporting invocation of programs as ${DESTDIR}${bindir}/myprog, that would also remove any ambiguity as to which file is being executed during CI testing. Similarly for package data file selection, etc. Therefore, please consider defining DESTDIR, bindir, etc. in the autopkgtest environment. I would be glad to take one of my packages that use Autotools and experiment with the change for you if you make it. If autopkgtest already does define DESTDIR, bindir, etc., then please document that on the tutorial page cited above and I will try it with my next upload of one of my Autotools-based packages. You might or might not want to merge this bug with #906125, which also requests environment variable definition, but this report and that are different. Thanks, Paul Hardy
