[question] Can we make TUR be similar to NUR?

[Freed-Wu]

https://github.com/nix-community/NUR collect third-party packages of NixOS, which is a combination of many users' github repositories named nur-packages. Can we make TUR be similar to NUR? Just combine many users' github repositories.

[T-Dynamos]

many users' github repositories

Which repos you mean by? Examples?

[licy183]

Sadly, maybe not. IIUC NUR (and its repos) contains lots of scripts for users and users can compile these packages on their device. Yeah, it is possible for TUR to provide such a function. But, Termux is often used on arm devices, and compiling will cost lots of time. Actually, TUR wants to provide prebuilt binaries for users to install and save building time on arm devices.

[Freed-Wu]

Which repos you mean by? Examples?

For example, https://nur.nix-community.org combines 199 user repositories currently.

compiling will cost lots of time

Oh, I know many nur-packages use cachix to provide binary cache. I don't know any methods to provide binary cache for termux packages. 😢

[licy183]

Termux uses apt (or pacman), and it is much different from NixOS.

[Freed-Wu]

NUR is a combination of many users' nur-packages. There exists a CI/CD in NUR repo to combine all users' nur-package repos to one repo. every user's packages is under a namespace named nur.user_name to avoid conflict.

AUR is another method. AUR provide a git platform, every one can create package in AUR. once one user create repo foo for software foo, other user can contact him/her to send patch. create different package for same software is disencouraged.

Currently, TUR have a small amount of packages compared to AUR, so use a git repo to collect all user's packages is enough.

[Freed-Wu]

perhaps TUR can be organized like Gentoo overlay (Or like Ubuntu PPA), that is every packager have its overlay repo, user select to install whose overlay repos. When two packagers' overlay repos have two packages with same name, user select install whose package. It is differen from AUR and NUR, which also solve the conflict problem without NUR's namespace or AUR's unified repo. Just my 2c.

Maybe transfer this issue to discussion will be better? Sorry for finding discussion so late 😢

[Freed-Wu]

So is it possible to use it as a project template to create a customized source, user just add it to $PREFIX/etc/apt/sources.list.d/XXX.list to use it?

[Freed-Wu]

Yes, just like Ubuntu PPA, every one has one repo for theirself. They even can host private projects on their termux's "PPA". Although there are few document about it, It should be possible in theory.

[Freed-Wu]

And apt source seems to have binary source deb and source code source deb-src. Is it possible to let user to host deb-src to build the package from source? Although document is fewer, I guess it is possible?

deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse

[licy183]

Hosting deb-src makes no sense to Termux. Packages on Termux doesn't use debian/control file when building a package.

[Freed-Wu]

Hosting deb-src makes no sense to Termux

How regretful. Such as termux doesn't allow any package is larger than 100 MB.

• [Package]: ltex-ls termux/termux-packages#11834
• nerdfonts termux/termux-packages#10191

If termux allow build package from source, user can build it by themselves without the limitation of package size.

[licy183]

If termux allow build package from source, user can build it by themselves without the limitation of package size.

It is possible to write an installer for these kind of packages. Ubuntu has ttf-mscorefonts-installer to install msfonts in postinst script.