Qi user guide

4.1 Package conflicts

All the links to install or remove a package are handled by graft(1). Since multiple packages can be installed or removed at the same time, certain conflicts may arise between the packages.

graft² defines a CONFLICT as one of the following conditions:

• If the package object is a directory and the target object exists but is not a directory.
• If the package object is not a directory and the target object exists and is not a symbolic link.
• If the package object is not a directory and the target object exists and is a symbolic link to something other than the package object.

The default behavior of qi for an incoming package is to ABORT if a conflict arises. When a package is going to be deleted, qi tells to graft(1) to remove those parts that are not in conflict, leaving the links to the belonging package. This behavior can be forced if the –prune option is given.

4.2 Installing packages

To install a single package, simply type:

qi install coreutils_8.30_i586-1@tools.tlz

To install multiple packages at once, type:

qi install gcc_8.3.0_i586-1@devel.tlz rafaela_2.2_i586-1@legacy.tlz ...

Warn about the files that will be linked:

qi warn bash_5.0_i586-1@shells.tlz

This is to verify the content of a package before installing it.

See the process of an installation:

qi install --verbose mariana_3.0_i586-1@woman.tlz

A second –verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

Installing package in a different location:

qi install --rootdir=/media/floppy lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz

Important: the –rootdir option assumes ‘${targetdir}’ and ‘${packagedir}’. See the following example:

qi install --rootdir=/home/selk lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz

The content of "lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors.tlz" will be decompressed into ‘/home/selk/pkgs/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors’. Assuming that the main binary for lzip is under ‘/home/selk/pkgs/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors/usr/bin/’ the target for "usr/bin" will be created at ‘/home/selk’. Considering that you have exported the PATH as ‘${HOME}/usr/bin’, now the system is able to see the recent lzip command.

Installing from a list of packages using standard input:

qi install - < PACKAGELIST.txt

Or in combination with another tool:

sort -u PACKAGELIST.txt | qi install -

The sort command will read and sorts the list of declared packages, while trying to have unique entries for each statement. The output produced is captured by Qi to install each package.

An example of a list containing package names is:

/var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/tcl_8.6.9_amd64-1@devel.tlz
/var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/tk_8.6.9.1_amd64-1@devel.tlz
/var/cache/qi/packages/amd64/vala_0.42.3_amd64-1@devel.tlz

4.3 Removing packages

To remove a package, simply type:

qi remove xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors.tlz

Remove command will match the package name using ‘${packagedir}’ as prefix. For example, if the value of ‘${packagedir}’ has been set to /usr/pkg, this will be equal to:

qi remove /usr/pkg/xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

Detailed output:

qi remove --verbose /usr/pkg/xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

A second –verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

By default the remove command does not preserve a package directory after removing its links from ‘${targetdir}’, but this behavior can be changed if the –keep option is passed:

qi remove --keep /usr/pkg/lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors

This means that the links to the package can be reactivated, later:

cd /usr/pkg && graft -i lzip_1.21_i586-1@compressors

Removing package from a different location:

qi remove --rootdir=/home/cthulhu xz_5.2.4_i586-1@compressors

Removing a package using standard input:

echo vala_0.42.3_amd64-1@devel | qi remove -

This will match with the package directory.

4.4 Upgrading packages

The upgrade command inherits the properties of the installation and removal process. To make sure that a package is updated, the package is installed in a temporary directory taking ‘${packagedir}’ into account. Once the incoming package is pre-installed, qi can proceed to search and delete packages that have the same name (considered as previous ones). Finally, the package is re-installed at its final location and the temporary directory is removed.

Since updating a package can be crucial and so to perform a successful upgrade, from start to finish, you will want to ignore some important system signals during the upgrade process, those signals are SIGHUP, SIGINT, SIGQUIT, SIGABRT, and SIGTERM.

To upgrade a package, just type:

qi upgrade gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

This will proceed to upgrade "gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel" removing any other version of "gcc" (if any).

If you want to keep the package directories of versions found during the upgrade process, just pass:

qi upgrade --keep gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

To see the upgrade process:

qi upgrade --verbose gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

A second –verbose or -v option gives more (very verbose).

To force the upgrade of an existing package:

qi upgrade --force gcc_9.0.1_i586-1@devel.tlz

• Package blacklist

5.1 Variables

A "variable" is a shell variable defined either in qirc or in a recipe to represent a string of text, called the variable’s "value". These values are substituted by explicit request in the definitions of other variables or in calls to external commands.

Variables can represent lists of file names, options to pass to compilers, programs to run, directories to look in for source files, directories to write output to, or anything else you can imagine.

Definitions of variables in qi have four levels of precedence. Options which define variables from the command-line override those specified in the qirc file, while variables defined in the recipe override those specified in qirc, taking priority over those variables set by command-line options. Finally, the variables have default values if they are not defined anywhere.

Options that set variables through the command-line can only reference variables defined in qirc and variables with default values.

Definitions of variables in qirc can only reference variables previously defined in qirc and variables with default values.

Definitions of variables in the recipe can only reference variables set by the command-line, variables previously defined in the recipe, variables defined in qirc, and variables with default values.

5.2 Special variables

There are variables which can only be set using the command line options or via qirc, there are other special variables which can be defined or redefined in a recipe. See the following definitions:

‘outdir’ is the directory where the packages produced are written. This variable can be redefined per-recipe. Default sets to ‘/var/cache/qi/packages’.

‘worktree’ is the working tree where archives, patches, and recipes are expected. This variable can not be redefined in the recipe. Default sets to ‘/usr/src/qi’.

‘tardir’ is defined in the recipe to the directory where the tarball containing the source can be found. The full name of the tarball is composed as ‘${tardir}/$tarname’. Its value is available in the recipe as ‘${tardir}’; a value of . for ‘tardir’ sets it to the value of CWD (Current Working Directory), this is where the recipe lives.

‘arch’ is the architecture to compose the package name. Its value is available in the recipe as ‘${arch}’. Default value is the one that was set in the Qi configuration.

‘jobs’ is the number of parallel jobs to pass to the compiler. Its value is available in the recipe as ‘${jobs}’. The default value is 1.

The two variables ‘${srcdir}’ and ‘${destdir}’ can be set in the recipe, as any other variable, but if they are not, qi uses default values for them when building a package.

‘srcdir’ contains the source code to be compiled, and defaults to ‘${program}-${version}’. ‘destdir’ is the place where the built package will be installed, and defaults to ‘${TMPDIR}/package-${program}’.

If ‘pkgname’ is left undefined, the special variable ‘program’ is assigned by default. If ‘pkgversion’ is left undefined, the special variable ‘version’ is assigned by default.

‘pkgname’ and ‘pkgversion’ along with: ‘version’, ‘arch’, ‘release’, and (optionally) ‘pkgcategory’ are used to produce the package name in the form: ‘${pkgname}_${pkgversion}_${arch}-${release}[@${pkgcategory}].tlz’

‘pkgcategory’ is an optional special variable that can be defined on the recipe to categorize the package name. If it is defined, then the package output will be composed as ‘${pkgname}_${pkgversion}_${arch}-${release}[@${pkgcategory}.tlz’. Automatically, the value of ‘pkgcategory’ will be prefixed using the ‘@’ (at) symbol which will be added to the last part of the package name.

A special variable called ‘replace’ can be used to declare package names that will be replaced at installation time.

The special variables ‘keep_srcdir’ and ‘keep_destdir’ are provided in order to preserve the directories ‘${srcdir}’ or ‘${destdir}’, if those exists as such. Note: The declaration of these variables are subject to manual deactivation; its purpose in recipes is to preserve the directories that relate to the package’s build (source) and destination directory, that is so that another recipe can get a new package (or meta package) from there. For example, the declarations can be done as:

keep_srcdir=keep_srcdir
keep_destdir=keep_destdir

Then from another recipe you would proceed to copy the necessary files that will compose the meta package, from the main function you must deactivate the variables at the end:

unset -v keep_srcdir keep_destdir

This will leave the ’keep_srcdir’ and ’keep_destdir’ variables blank to continue with the rest of the recipes.

The special variable ‘opt_skiprecipe’ is available when you need to ignore a recipe cleanly, continuing with the next recipe. May you add a conditional test then set it as ‘opt_skiprecipe=opt_skiprecipe’.

The variable ‘tarlz_compression_options’ can be used to change the default compression options in tarlz(1), default sets to ‘-9 --solid’. For example if the variable is declared as:

tarlz_compression_options="-0 --bsolid"

It will change the granularity of tarlz(1) by using the ‘--bsolid’ option ³, as well as increasing the compression speed by lowering the compression level with ‘-0’.

This is only recommended for recipes where testing, or faster processing is desired to create the packaged file more quickly. It is not recommended for production or general distribution of binary packages.

A typical recipe contains the following variables:

• ‘program’: Software name.

  It matches the source name. It is also used to compose the name of the package if ‘${pkgname}’ is not specified.

• ‘version’: Software version.

  It matches the source name. It is also used to compose the version of the package if ‘${pkgversion}’ is not specified.

• ‘arch’: Software architecture.

  It is used to compose the architecture of the package in which it is build.

• ‘release’: Release number.

  This is used to reflect the release number of the package. It is recommended to increase this number after any significant change in the recipe or post-install script.

• ‘pkgcategory’: Package category.

  Optional but recommended variable to categorize the package name when it is created.

Obtaining sources over the network must be declared in the recipe using the ‘fetch’ variable.

The variables ‘netget’ and ‘rsync’ can be defined in qirc to establish a network downloader in order to get the sources. If they are not defined, qi uses default values:

‘netget’ is the general network downloader tool, defaults sets to ‘wget2 -c -w1 -t3 --no-check-certificate’.

‘rsync’ is the network tool for sources containing the prefix for the RSYNC protocol, default sets to ‘rsync -v -a -L -z -i --progress’.

The variable ‘description’ is used to print the package description when a package is installed.

A description has two parts: a brief description, and a long description. By convention, the syntax of ‘description’ is:

description="
Brief description.

Long description.
"

The first line of the value represented is a brief description of the software (called "blurb"). A blank line separates the brief description from the long description, which should contain a more descriptive description of the software.

An example looks like:

description="
The GNU core utilities.

The GNU core utilities are the basic file, shell and text manipulation
utilities of the GNU operating system.  These are the core utilities
which are expected to exist on every operating system.
"

Please consider a length limit of 78 characters as maximum, because the same one would be used on the meta file creation. See The meta file section.

The ‘homepage’ variable is used to declare the main site or home page:

homepage=https://www.gnu.org/software/gcc

The variable ‘license’ is used for license information⁴. Some code in the program can be covered by license A, license B, or license C. For "separate licensing" or "heterogeneous licensing", we suggest using | for a disjunction, & for a conjunction (if that ever happens in a significant way), and comma for heterogeneous licensing. Comma would have lower precedence, plus added special terms.

license="LGPL, GPL | Artistic - added permission"

5.3 Writing recipes

Originally, Qi was designed for the series of Dragora GNU/Linux-Libre 3; this doesn’t mean you can’t use it in another distribution, just that if you do, you’ll have to try it out for yourself. To help with this, here are some references to well-written recipes:

• https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/dragora.git/tree/recipes
• https://notabug.org/dragora/dragora/src/master/recipes
• https://notabug.org/dragora/dragora-extras/src/master/recipes
• https://git.savannah.nongnu.org/cgit/dragora/dragora-extras.git/tree/recipes

5.4 Building packages

A recipe is any valid regular file. Qi sets priorities for reading a recipe, the order in which qi looks for a recipe is:

1. Current working directory.
2. If the specified path name does not contain "recipe" as the last component. Qi will complete it by adding "recipe" to the path name.
3. If the recipe is not in the current working directory, it will be searched under ‘${worktree}/recipes’. The last component will be completed adding "recipe" to the specified path name.

To build a single package, type:

qi build x-apps/xterm

Multiple jobs can be passed to the compiler to speed up the build process:

qi build --jobs 3 x-apps/xterm

Update or install the produced package (if not already installed) when the build command ends:

qi build -j3 --upgrade x-apps/xterm

Only process a recipe but do not create the binary package:

qi build --no-package dict/aspell

The options –install or –upgrade have no effect when –no-package is given.

This is useful to inspect the build process of the above recipe:

qi build –keep –no-package dict/aspell 2>&1 | tee aspell-log.txt

The –keep option could preserve the source directory and the destination directory for later inspection. A log file of the build process will be created redirecting both, standard error and standard output to tee(1).

5.5 Variables from the environment

Qi has environment variables which can be used at build time:

The variable TMPDIR sets the temporary directory for sources, which is used for package extractions (see Examining packages) and is prepended to the value of ‘${srcdir}’ and ‘${destdir}’ in build command. By convention its default value is equal to ‘/usr/src/qi/build’.

The variables QICFLAGS, QICXXFLAGS, QILDFLAGS, and QICPPFLAGS have no effect by default. The environment variables such as CFLAGS, CXXFLAGS, LDFLAGS, and CPPFLAGS are unset at compile time:

Recommended practice is to set variables in the command line of ‘configure’ or make(1) instead of exporting to the environment. As follows:

https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Environment.html

It is not wise for makefiles to depend for their functioning on environment variables set up outside their control, since this would cause different users to get different results from the same makefile. This is against the whole purpose of most makefiles.

Setting environment variables for configure is deprecated because running configure in varying environments can be dangerous.

https://gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.69/html_node/Defining-Variables.html

Variables not defined in a site shell script can be set in the environment passed to configure. However, some packages may run configure again during the build, and the customized values of these variables may be lost. In order to avoid this problem, you should set them in the configure command line, using ‘VAR=value’. For example:

./configure CC=/usr/local2/bin/gcc

https://www.gnu.org/savannah-checkouts/gnu/autoconf/manual/autoconf-2.69/html_node/Setting-Output-Variables.html

If for instance the user runs ‘CC=bizarre-cc ./configure’, then the cache, config.h, and many other output files depend upon bizarre-cc being the C compiler. If for some reason the user runs ./configure again, or if it is run via ‘./config.status --recheck’, (See Automatic Remaking, and see config.status Invocation), then the configuration can be inconsistent, composed of results depending upon two different compilers. [...] Indeed, while configure can notice the definition of CC in ‘./configure CC=bizarre-cc’, it is impossible to notice it in ‘CC=bizarre-cc ./configure’, which, unfortunately, is what most users do. [...] configure: error: changes in the environment can compromise the build.

If the SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH environment variable is set to a UNIX timestamp (defined as the number of seconds, excluding leap seconds, since 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 UTC.); then the given timestamp will be used to overwrite any newer timestamps on the package contents (when it is created). More information about this can be found at https://reproducible-builds.org/specs/source-date-epoch/.

5.6 The meta file

The "meta file" is a regular file created during the build process, it contains information about the package such as package name, package version, architecture, release, fetch address, description, and other minor data extracted from processed recipes. The name of the file is generated as ‘${full_pkgname}.tlz.txt’, and its purpose is to reflect essential information to the user without having to look inside the package content. The file format is also intended to be used by other scripts or by common Unix tools.

The content of a meta file looks like:

#
# Pattern scanning and processing language.
#
# The awk utility interprets a special-purpose programming language
# that makes it possible to handle simple data-reformatting jobs
# with just a few lines of code.  It is a free version of 'awk'.
#
# GNU awk implements the AWK utility which is part of
# IEEE Std 1003.1 Shell and Utilities (XCU).
#

QICFLAGS="-O2"
QICXXFLAGS="-O2"
QILDFLAGS=""
QICPPFLAGS=""
pkgname=gawk
pkgversion=5.0.1
arch=amd64
release=1
pkgcategory="tools"
full_pkgname=gawk_5.0.1_amd64-1@tools
blurb="Pattern scanning and processing language."
homepage="https://www.gnu.org/software/gawk"
license="GPLv3+"
fetch="https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gawk/gawk-5.0.1.tar.lz"
replace=""

A package descriptions is extracted from the variable ‘description’ where each line is interpreted literally and pre-formatted to fit in (exactly) 80 columns, plus the character ‘#’ and a blank space is prefixed to every line (shell comments).

In addition to the Special variables, there are implicit variables such as ‘blurb’:

The ‘blurb’ variable is related to the special variable ‘description’. Its value is made from the first (substantial) line of ‘description’, mentioned as the "brief description".

The build flags such as ‘QICFLAGS’, ‘QICXXFLAGS’, ‘QILDFLAGS’, and ‘QICPPFLAGS’ are only added to the meta file if the declared variable ‘arch’ is not equal to the "noarch" value.