Packaging a Python program. Missing dependencies and name collisions

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1

Hi there,

I have a couple of questions about how to create a package for a python program (MultiQC). This python program depends on some python libraries that are not available in nixpkgs yet, so I need to include them.

The first question is, how do I go about it? Do I create a new branch with a package for each one of the missing libraries and wait for the merge, or I just do everything in one branch?

The second question is about name collisions in python. One of the new libraries is called spectra. There are other packages with that name, a C++ library and a R library. For now, I named it spectra-py, but given that it’s gonna be a python3 library maybe I don’t need to rename it? How do you actually test that it builds? The way I do it now is:

nix-build -A spectra-py

Thanks a lot!

2

I would do the latter. Include all the new packages in one PR with different commits for each package.

That’s correct. Instead of adding your package to pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix or pkgs/by-name/, add it to pkgs/top-level/python-packages.nix. This way you can build it as python3Packages.spectra.

Without flakes: nix-build -A python3Packages.spectra
With flakes: nix build .#python3Packages.spectra

2 Likes
3

If it’s your first time contributing, sometimes short PRs to get “initial feedback” is nice, so that you can then apply some of the feedback across all of them.

If it’s 3 or more packages, sometimes PRs just become “feedback loop” monsters.

4

Actually, it is going to be the second. My first package didn’t have any dependencies, and yes, I had some feedback but that was ok.