97 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
97 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
<html><head><title>Twisted and Debian</title></head><body>
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<h1>Twisted and Debian</h1>
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<h3>Moshe Zadka</h3>
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<h4><moshez@debian.org> <moshez@twistedmatrix.com></h4>
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<h2>Twisted</h2>
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<p>
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Twisted is a Python networking framework. It is useful for development
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of both clients and servers, and strives to support as many externalities
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as possible -- from network protocols (with over a two dozen RFCs implemented)
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to GUI toolkits (supporting GTK+, Qt, wxWindows and Tk).
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</p>
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<h2>Debian</h2>
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<p>
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Debian is a free, stable and comprehensive operating system, based on GNU
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software and the Linux kernel. Debian supports eleven hardware archtecture
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and over 6000 programs. Debian, as a free, community-supported, operating
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system, has been used as a base for many other operating systems, including
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Lindows and Knoppix.
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</p>
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<h2>Using Twisted on a Debian System</h2>
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<p>
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The latest stable release of Debian, woody, comes with Twisted 0.15.5 built
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in. New versions of Twisted, which are tested on both stable and unstable,
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are always available from
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"deb http://twistedmatrix.com/users/moshez/apt". So, even those using
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stable Debian can use the latest Twisted releases, including the upcoming 1.0,
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without the overhead of adding unstable sources to their sources.list, dealing
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with apt-pinning or building the sources themselves.
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</p>
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<p>
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Of course, users of Debian unstable can get the releases directly from Debian
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-- the released packages, already having been tested on the main Twisted
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Debian machine, are usually uploaded to Debian unstable within hours of
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the official release.
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</p>
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<p>
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Twisted supports,
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as fully as possible, the Python versions available in Debian -- currently,
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2.1, 2.2 and pre-releases of 2.3. For those needing just a version of
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Twisted which works with the Debian default Python version, "python-twisted"
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is available. For low-impact on production servers, the documentation of
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Twisted (over half a megabyte) is packaged seperately. Twisted uses
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the Recommends: and Suggests: fields, to allow the Debian packaging tools
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to supply the information about which packages can be used to maximise
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the potential of Twisted.
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</p>
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<p>
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For those on the bleeding edge, or people who want to make sure their
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applications work flawlessly for the next version of Twisted, all release
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candidates are available from the apt source
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"deb http://twistedmatrix.com/users/moshez/snapshot". These are the release
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candidates the Twisted team uses itself to prepare for the next release --
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but third party developers interested in assuring compatibility are also
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welcome to use them.
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</p>
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<h2>Using Twisted's Debian Integration</h2>
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<p>
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For Twisted-based server application developers who want to deploy on
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Debian, Twisted supplies the <code>tap2deb</code> program. This program
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wraps a tap file (Twisted Application Pickle, a Twisted configuration)
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in a Debian archive, including correct installation and removal scripts
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and <code>init.d</code> scripts. For the more savvy Debian users, the
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<code>tap2deb</code> also generates the source package, allowing her
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to modify and polish things which automated software cannot detect
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(such as dependencies or relationships to virtual packages). In addition,
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the Twisted team itself intends to produce Debian packages for some common
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services, such as web servers and an inetd replacement. Those packages
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will enjoy the best of all worlds -- both the consistency which comes
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from being based on the <code>tap2deb</code> and the delicate manual
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tweaking of a Debian maintainer, insuring perfect integration with
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Debian.
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</p>
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<p>
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This things will insure you can run a fully functional Debian system
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which relies on Twisted for many of its core, and security sensitive,
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portions -- thus, eliminating many of the classical security holes
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(such as buffer overlows, uninitialized memory access and stack smashing),
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allowing you to sleep better at night.
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</p>
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</body></html>
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