Auto-make package (eg .rpm) files? If not, why not?

(I debated about whether or not to post to -users or -dev. My apologies if
I made the wrong choice.)

Summary:

I want my C++ based project--which happens to be Subversion-controlled--to
automatically create (via its build process) binary package files, eg,
.rpm, .deb, .pkg, etc files (and I'm not talking about just src rpms--I
mean the "binary" rpms).

But before I do, I'm wondering: Why does Subversion not do this? Should I
take heed from this and not do it for my project (which is on the verge of
being open sourced and distributed to the public)?

Details:

I don't see any rules to automatically make an rpm in:

http://svn.collab.net/repos/svn/trunk/Makefile.in

...although I do see the package specs in here:

http://svn.collab.net/repos/svn/trunk/packages/rpm/rhel-4/subversion.spec

And of course rpm's are available, but apparently by other people other
then the "official" Subversion distribution.

Is this a compatibility/CYA move on Subversion's part? eg, is the project
worried about someone building an improper rpm, distributing it around, and
making the Subversion project look bad? (Among other things, binary
compatibility is a tricky issue.)

What reasons would I want to do to not provide a 'make rpm' or 'make deb'
or 'make pkg' ability from my project?

-Matt

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Received on Thu Apr 13 21:17:04 2006