Thanks everyone who helped with the submission!
Just for the reference -- here is the submitted version ( I believe it
will be possible to change it later on as well ):
Submitted by
Yaroslav Halchenko
Category
Packaging # I guess it was the closest to "distribution"
Audience Level
Intermediate
Extreme?
No
Duration
I prefer a 45 minute slot
Description
Debian delivers a complete operating system with a rich collection of
Python modules and extensions as its integral part. Such "*all* batteries
included" approach allows anyone to safely dive into using Python without being
exposed to possible internal complexity of build- and run-time requirements.
This talk will present the Python world of Debian with its offerings, standards
and QA efforts.
Abstract
Python has found appreciation not only among professional developers
but also among students, scientists and programming novices due to its
scripting nature, "batteries included", good collection of 3rd party libraries,
and ability to interface to libraries written in other languages and computing
environments (e.g. R). To conveniently deliver such a versatile Python platform
to users (and their humble system administrators), the Python community have
been developing the ultimate Python distribution utilities and bundling
pre-built Python and core 3rd party libraries and modules for distribution on
proprietary systems. Meanwhile nearly for two decades Python has been a part of
the largest community-driven software distribution platform -- Debian. The
Debian project delivers a complete operating system with tens of thousands of
FOSS projects available on 11 hardware architectures and 3 different kernels
(Linux, HURD, kFreeBSD). Being a binary distribution Debian guarantees safer --
free of build-errors -- installations and seamless upgrades. Coupled with the
standardized specification of build and run-time dependencies, it makes it easy
to build, verify, or simply deploy projects with complicated interdependencies
and using a variety of technologies. Since Debian attempts to support all
technologies equally well, Python-based products are first class citizens in
this heterogeneous distribution ecosystem, ensuring that Python works well with
the rest of it. Recent advances in hardware virtualization support, followed in
tandem with the explosion of cloud solutions, has made Debian systems popular
not only among Linux "fan-boys" but for various, especially scientific and
community-driven, deployments. The ease with which thousands of Python-based
FOSS have been made available and maintainable through Debian have made it the
Python distribution with all batteries included, even those like virtualenv
which also address package and dependency management.
In this talk I would like to briefly present the history of Python in
Debian (which can be traced back to the 1990s with Python 1.4), outline the
benefits Debian provides for Python users/developers and present what to expect
in the upcoming stable (wheezy) release of Debian. To familiarize listeners
with the Python-in-Debian ecosystem I will then give an overview of core
package naming, versioning, and modularization conventions in Debian and
ongoing QA efforts (build-time testing, full-archive rebuilds, etc). I will
briefly present the "Debian packaging" helper tools, including a recent GSOC
project aiming to provide automatic packaging of the packages on PyPI. To
facilitate the synergy between Python and Debian communities, I will emphasize
on common sense practices (following PEPs, thoroughly tracking contributions
and licensing, continuous integration testing, etc.) which would make any
Debian packaging and maintainership more efficient and benefit upstream
developers. I am planning to conclude by presenting few easy ways on how to
start using Debian.
As the outcome of the talk, I expect listeners to become more
familiar with the Debian project goals, standards and principles, become aware
of integration aspects involved in delivering such a plethora of Python FOSS
solutions, and become intrigued enough to try Debian on their systems or in the
cloud.
--
Yaroslav O. Halchenko
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Dartmouth College, 419 Moore Hall, Hinman Box 6207, Hanover, NH 03755
Phone: +1 (603) 646-9834 Fax: +1 (603) 646-1419
WWW: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yarik
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