Debian Bug report logs - #458812
RFP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Debian Bugs <submit@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:59:33 -0500

Package: wnpp
Severity: wishlist

Package name: aster
Version: 9.2.0
Author: EDF (Electricite de France) R&D
License: GPL
Description: Thermal and mechanical finite element simulation software

Code_Aster (file/package name aster) is a mature finite element code for
structural and thermal analysis.  Its development has been guided by the
needs of the nuclear engineering industry, and it enjoys wide use and
distribution.  It is also a major component of the recently-released
CAELinux live DVD distribution, and links well with Salomé for
high-quality pre- and post-processing.

-Adam
-- 
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Engineering consulting with open source tools
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Message #16 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: control@bugs.debian.org, 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:58:24 -0500

retitle 458812 ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
thanks

I have renewed motivation for making this happen, and should have
something uploadable relatively soon.

On Wed, 2008-02-06 at 11:43 -0500, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> retitle 458812 RFP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
> thanks
> 
> This is a relatively low priority for now, and I haven't started the
> package yet, so if someone else wants to package it, feel free.  If
> nobody has done so by May or June 2008, I should be able to get to it.
> 
> -Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

Message #25 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:05:59 +0200

Hi,

I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working on 
this? Is there any way I could help you? 

-- 
Alexandre Fayolle
http://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=afayolle%40debian.org&comaint=yes

Message #30 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, 491105@bugs.debian.org, 491028@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:28:06 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working on 
> this? Is there any way I could help you? 

Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.

Unfortunately, Aster requires MUMPS, and my MUMPS packages are held up
by bugs 491105 and 491028 in blacs and scalapack.  I could just restrict
it to MPICH and LAM, but would rather have an OpenMPI version, or one
using mpi-default-(dev|bin), as neither MPICH(1) nor LAM is currently
maintained by upstream.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #35 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, 491105@bugs.debian.org, 491028@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:27:19 +0200

Le Thursday 16 April 2009 19:28:06 Adam C Powell IV, vous avez écrit :
> On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working
> > on this? Is there any way I could help you?
>
> Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
> but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
> not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.

Thanks a lot. 

> Unfortunately, Aster requires MUMPS, and my MUMPS packages are held up
> by bugs 491105 and 491028 in blacs and scalapack.  

I'll give these a look tomorrow

> I could just restrict 
> it to MPICH and LAM, but would rather have an OpenMPI version, or one
> using mpi-default-(dev|bin), as neither MPICH(1) nor LAM is currently
> maintained by upstream.

Would packaging mpich2 in Debian help ? 

-- 
Alexandre Fayolle
http://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=afayolle%40debian.org&comaint=yes

Message #40 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>, 458812@bugs.debian.org

Cc: 491105@bugs.debian.org, 491028@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 11:46:11 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 21:27 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> Le Thursday 16 April 2009 19:28:06 Adam C Powell IV, vous avez écrit :
> > On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working
> > > on this? Is there any way I could help you?
> >
> > Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
> > but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
> > not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.
> 
> Thanks a lot. 
> 
> > Unfortunately, Aster requires MUMPS, and my MUMPS packages are held up
> > by bugs 491105 and 491028 in blacs and scalapack.  
> 
> I'll give these a look tomorrow
> 
> > I could just restrict 
> > it to MPICH and LAM, but would rather have an OpenMPI version, or one
> > using mpi-default-(dev|bin), as neither MPICH(1) nor LAM is currently
> > maintained by upstream.
> 
> Would packaging mpich2 in Debian help ? 

At some point, but not for this issue.  BLACS and ScaLAPACK (and MUMPS)
would need to be rebuilt for the new MPICH2 anyway.

This is probably a topic for debian-science, which discussed MPI and
decided to go with a mpi-defaults meta-package, so packages build
against OpenMPI on the arches where it's available and LAM otherwise.

Muammar, I have yet to hear from you regarding 491028 and 491105.  Do
you have any feedback?  This is a major change, but do you mind if I NMU
to make it?

Thanks,
-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #45 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:29:00 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 13:28 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working on 
> > this? Is there any way I could help you? 
> 
> Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
> but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
> not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.

Found my aster packages for version 9.2.0:
http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/aster/ .  They're pretty unconventional, but
aster has an unconventional build system!  Note separate astk and aster
source packages.

Also, old blacs/scalapack stuff is at:
http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/mumps/ but I never completed mumps.  And
this just adds openmpi to blacs and scalapack; I haven't done the
mpi-defaults version yet.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #50 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Fri, 15 May 2009 09:19:58 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Thu, 2009-04-23 at 13:29 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 13:28 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> > On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > > 
> > > I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working on 
> > > this? Is there any way I could help you? 
> > 
> > Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
> > but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
> > not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.
> 
> Also, old blacs/scalapack stuff is at:
> http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/mumps/ but I never completed mumps.  And
> this just adds openmpi to blacs and scalapack; I haven't done the
> mpi-defaults version yet.

Just an update: the new blacs-mpi and scalapack are now in unstable,
clearing the way for me to work on mumps.  I don't have too much more to
do on that, should be able to finish by the end of next week.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #55 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexandre Fayolle <afayolle@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: are you still interested in packaging code aster ?

Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 13:27:19 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Fri, 2009-05-15 at 11:42 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> On Thu, 2009-04-23 at 13:29 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> > On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 13:28 -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> > > On Thu, 2009-04-16 at 19:05 +0200, Alexandre Fayolle wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > > 
> > > > I'm interested in packaging Code Aster for Debian. Are you still working on 
> > > > this? Is there any way I could help you? 
> > > 
> > > Great.  My packages are very old, haven't tried the newest version yet,
> > > but you're welcome to them.  Hmm, they're living on a machine which is
> > > not currently on the net...  Will get everything to you ASAP.
> > 
> > Also, old blacs/scalapack stuff is at:
> > http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/mumps/ but I never completed mumps.  And
> > this just adds openmpi to blacs and scalapack; I haven't done the
> > mpi-defaults version yet.
> 
> Just an update: the new blacs-mpi and scalapack are now in unstable,
> clearing the way for me to work on mumps.  I don't have too much more to
> do on that, should be able to finish by the end of next week.

Hello again,

I just uploaded MUMPS, which you can see at the above URL.  Feel free to
go ahead with work on astk/aster.  If you don't package them, I'll get
to them eventually.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #60 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Alexey Balmashnov <a.balmashnov@gmail.com>

To: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Could not build package.

Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 01:02:22 +0200

Hi,

I got sources for aster 9.2.0-3 from http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/aster/

While trying to build a package using pbuilder and sid-chroot
environment I got the following:
...
dpkg-checkbuilddeps: warning: can't parse dependency \
 libscotch-dev
dpkg-checkbuilddeps: error: error occurred while parsing
Build-Depends/Build-Depends-Indep)
dpkg-buildpackage: warning: Build dependencies/conflicts unsatisfied; aborting.
dpkg-buildpackage: warning: (Use -d flag to override.)
pbuilder: Failed autobuilding of package
...

So, I suspected that the problem is in the dependencies description.
Went to "fix" it by removing
trailing "\" but could not generate source package getting the
following error on debuild -S -sa
command:
...
dh_clean
/usr/bin/make clean
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/alexei/Desktop/aster/aster-9.2.0'
File not found : /home/alexei/Desktop/aster/aster-9.2.0/bin/as_run
...

IIRC, as_run is in the astk (python-astk-server) package, so shall
aster build-depends on it?

I tried this on Ubuntu 9.04 if it might matter. And it is my first
experience in building packages.

---

Further on, continuing topic of Aster/Salome packaging, if I may.
Currently, newer
versions of Code Aster (10.0.3) and Salome platform (5.1.2, Qt4
remake) are available. Having
look at debianization as it is done now, I understand that it is a
hell of a job to package this
pieces of software, especially when there is no (as I understood from
discussion here and
elsewhere) any link with upstream... But hence there is some expertise
around, may people
currently involved in packaging make some overview on what would be good to do
with respect to Aster/Salome build/deployment tools to simplify actual
packaging, and hence
faster deployment of newer versions of the software in the future? May
be there is something
like that already available?

Thanks in advance,
  Alexey Balmashnov

Message #65 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Alexey Balmashnov <a.balmashnov@gmail.com>, 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: Could not build package.

Date: Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:42:05 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hello,

On Thu, 2009-08-06 at 01:02 +0200, Alexey Balmashnov wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I got sources for aster 9.2.0-3 from http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/aster/
> 
> While trying to build a package using pbuilder and sid-chroot
> environment I got the following:
> ...
> dpkg-checkbuilddeps: warning: can't parse dependency \
>  libscotch-dev
> dpkg-checkbuilddeps: error: error occurred while parsing
> Build-Depends/Build-Depends-Indep)
> dpkg-buildpackage: warning: Build dependencies/conflicts unsatisfied; aborting.
> dpkg-buildpackage: warning: (Use -d flag to override.)
> pbuilder: Failed autobuilding of package
> ...

Indeed, an old bad habit, sorry.

> So, I suspected that the problem is in the dependencies description.
> Went to "fix" it by removing
> trailing "\" but could not generate source package getting the
> following error on debuild -S -sa
> command:
> ...
> dh_clean
> /usr/bin/make clean
> make[1]: Entering directory `/home/alexei/Desktop/aster/aster-9.2.0'
> File not found : /home/alexei/Desktop/aster/aster-9.2.0/bin/as_run
> ...
> 
> IIRC, as_run is in the astk (python-astk-server) package, so shall
> aster build-depends on it?

Yes, it should.

> I tried this on Ubuntu 9.04 if it might matter. And it is my first
> experience in building packages.

Great, thanks for the report!

> Further on, continuing topic of Aster/Salome packaging, if I may.
> Currently, newer
> versions of Code Aster (10.0.3) and Salome platform (5.1.2, Qt4
> remake) are available. Having
> look at debianization as it is done now, I understand that it is a
> hell of a job to package this
> pieces of software, especially when there is no (as I understood from
> discussion here and
> elsewhere) any link with upstream...

Indeed, that's why I haven't updated those packages in so long. :-(

> But hence there is some expertise
> around, may people
> currently involved in packaging make some overview on what would be good to do
> with respect to Aster/Salome build/deployment tools to simplify actual
> packaging, and hence
> faster deployment of newer versions of the software in the future? May
> be there is something
> like that already available?

Yes, I think this bug is a good forum for people to use.  I'd be happy
to put some more time into getting it working, but a team packaging
approach, or someone else packaging it, is fine with me too.

Regards,
-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #70 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Alexey Balmashnov <a.balmashnov@gmail.com>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#458812: Could not build package.

Date: Thu, 6 Aug 2009 17:11:31 +0200

Hello,

On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 2:42 PM, Adam C Powell IV<hazelsct@debian.org> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> ...
> Great, thanks for the report!

No problem. It just good to know, that after a couple of days I could
spot the problems.

>> Further on, continuing topic of Aster/Salome packaging, if I may.
>> Currently, newer
>> versions of Code Aster (10.0.3) and Salome platform (5.1.2, Qt4
>> remake) are available. Having
>> look at debianization as it is done now, I understand that it is a
>> hell of a job to package this
>> pieces of software, especially when there is no (as I understood from
>> discussion here and
>> elsewhere) any link with upstream...
>
> Indeed, that's why I haven't updated those packages in so long. :-(
>
>> But hence there is some expertise
>> around, may people
>> currently involved in packaging make some overview on what would be good to do
>> with respect to Aster/Salome build/deployment tools to simplify actual
>> packaging, and hence
>> faster deployment of newer versions of the software in the future? May
>> be there is something
>> like that already available?
>
> Yes, I think this bug is a good forum for people to use.  I'd be happy
> to put some more time into getting it working, but a team packaging
> approach, or someone else packaging it, is fine with me too.

I tried to summarize my findings of last few days on the current state
of Code_Aster building/deployment practices and its relation to
packaging efforts in the RFC posted on Code_Aster forum [1]. I hope
that this topic will start some discussion, although I have to admit
that I am a bit skeptical now.

I am going to invest a bit more time to compare state of the
building/deployment in the latest version of Code_Aster to packaged
9.2. But first... I have to do more in learning how to package (lots
of RTFM).

[1] http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=13292

Message #75 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: control@bugs.debian.org

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 18:55:11 -0500

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

retitle 458812 RFP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
thanks

I'll leave this as an RFP for now, and only change it if/when the
motivation turns into something more concrete.

Apologies to any who have seen the ITP and put off working on a package.
My old work is still available at http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/aster/ .

-Adam

On Fri, 2008-02-22 at 16:58 -0500, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> retitle 458812 ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
> thanks
> 
> I have renewed motivation for making this happen, and should have
> something uploadable relatively soon.
> 
> On Wed, 2008-02-06 at 11:43 -0500, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> > retitle 458812 RFP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
> > thanks
> > 
> > This is a relatively low priority for now, and I haven't started the
> > package yet, so if someone else wants to package it, feel free.  If
> > nobody has done so by May or June 2008, I should be able to get to it.
> > 
> > -Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

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Message #82 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>

To: 458812@bugs.debian.org

Cc: Christophe Trophime <christophe.trophime@lncmi.cnrs.fr>, debian-science@lists.debian.org

Subject: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2011 12:06:29 +0100 (BST)

Hello list,

I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster software[1] for Debian.

Some work is already done, in the debian-science svn repository there is packaging for the code aster engine and other tools and libraries[2]

This however has still some issues, in particular it doesn't build the mpi parallel version, but I've worked on this and I obtained a (more-or-less) working mpi package[3][4]

I would like to know what should be done to make those packages enter into the distribution, and see if I can help in this task; it has to be note however that, at the moment, code aster uses some tools and libraries that don't have a free license, e.g. the metis-edf library.

Another thing that should be discussed is the build system: CA has its own build system, but now there's also an effort (libaster[5]) to use waf instead. I haven't yet contacted the CA team to ask if they are planning to switch to waf or stick to their custom build system.
If I'm gonna be the only one working on the packages, I'd rather stay on the CA's custom system - at least for now - because I know it, and also because I don't know waf at all; but if some other people will be helping, maybe using waf could be a better choice.

So... what should be done for the packaging? Can it enter in Debian even if it uses non-free tools? Maybe in non-free? Or it's preferred to (try to) build a cut-down version, but 100% open source?

Bye
Andrea

[1] http://www.code-aster.org/
[2] http://svn.debian.org/viewsvn/debian-science/packages/code-aster/
[3] http://www.code-aster.org/wiki/doku.php?id=en:p02_install:debianpackages
[4] http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=14953
[5] http://www.libaster.org/

Message #87 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Sylvestre Ledru <sylvestre@debian.org>

To: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, Christophe Trophime <christophe.trophime@lncmi.cnrs.fr>, debian-science@lists.debian.org, Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Wed, 04 May 2011 10:36:11 +0200

Hello,



> I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster software[1] for Debian.
Thanks for your interest in the packaging of Code Aster.
You are more than welcome to help. If it is not the case now, you could
join the Debian Science team and start to update the SVN repository. I
will be happy to upload your changes.
However, you should be aware of a license issue with metis-edf:
http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/node/686
To unblock, we should consider some uploads in non-free and contrib. 

About libaster, I added Nicolas as C/C (who is one of the person at the
origin of this project). I am aware he wants to have it in Debian.



> Some work is already done, in the debian-science svn repository there is packaging for the code aster engine and other tools and libraries[2]
> 
> This however has still some issues, in particular it doesn't build the mpi parallel version, but I've worked on this and I obtained a (more-or-less) working mpi package[3][4]
> 
> I would like to know what should be done to make those packages enter into the distribution, and see if I can help in this task; it has to be note however that, at the moment, code aster uses some tools and libraries that don't have a free license, e.g. the metis-edf library.
> 
> Another thing that should be discussed is the build system: CA has its own build system, but now there's also an effort (libaster[5]) to use waf instead. I haven't yet contacted the CA team to ask if they are planning to switch to waf or stick to their custom build system.
> If I'm gonna be the only one working on the packages, I'd rather stay on the CA's custom system - at least for now - because I know it, and also because I don't know waf at all; but if some other people will be helping, maybe using waf could be a better choice.
> 
> So... what should be done for the packaging? Can it enter in Debian even if it uses non-free tools? Maybe in non-free? Or it's preferred to (try to) build a cut-down version, but 100% open source?
> 
> Bye
> Andrea
> 
> [1] http://www.code-aster.org/
> [2] http://svn.debian.org/viewsvn/debian-science/packages/code-aster/
> [3] http://www.code-aster.org/wiki/doku.php?id=en:p02_install:debianpackages
> [4] http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=14953
> [5] http://www.libaster.org/
> 
> 

Message #92 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org

Cc: Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 06:58:31 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On Wed, 2011-05-04 at 10:36 +0200, Sylvestre Ledru wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> > I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster software[1] for Debian.
> Thanks for your interest in the packaging of Code Aster.
> You are more than welcome to help. If it is not the case now, you could
> join the Debian Science team and start to update the SVN repository. I
> will be happy to upload your changes.
> However, you should be aware of a license issue with metis-edf:
> http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/node/686
> To unblock, we should consider some uploads in non-free and contrib.

How extensive are the differences between metis-edf and metis?  Might it
be worth porting those differences to Scotch?  Or does Code Aster use
some features of metis not present in Scotch, like element-wise
partitioning (instead of node-wise)?

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Message #97 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>

To: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org, Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

Cc: Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 12:58:11 +0100 (BST)

--- Mar 10/5/11, Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org> ha scritto:

> Da: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>
> Oggetto: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
> > > I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster
> software[1] for Debian.
> > Thanks for your interest in the packaging of Code
> Aster.
> > However, you should be aware of a license issue with
> metis-edf:
> > http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/node/686
> > To unblock, we should consider some uploads in
> non-free and contrib.
> 
> How extensive are the differences between metis-edf and
> metis?  Might it
> be worth porting those differences to Scotch?  Or does
> Code Aster use
> some features of metis not present in Scotch, like
> element-wise
> partitioning (instead of node-wise)?

Hi,

I know nothing about mesh partitioning, scotch and metis; however here is
what Cristophe Trohime said to me when we talked about this a month ago
(the quoted text is mine):

"[...]> As far as I understand, it's actually possible to build CA without
> metis; however some functionalities will not be available
> (RENUM='METIS' in SOLVEUR), and this can be a rather annoying
> problem, since metis is the default renumerator; however,
> if CA can switch automatically to another renum, this may
> become just a performance issue (and a longer list of failing
> tests, if METIS is explicitly called).
> For replacing metis with scotch, the library by itself is already
> there (libscotchmetis), however what is missing are the executables:
> see this thread http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=14417 
> , where André says "In case you succeed to make the tests from 
> liste_internet pass with scotchmetis, I am very interested about your 
> build (because it means that you can supply an alternative to onmetis, 
> kmetis and onmetis.exe)."

I had the opportunity to discuss that with Mathieu Courtois, a ASTER developper, last year.
He tells me that if we choose Scotch instead of metis it will be better to call directly without using any additionnal programs. But my guess is this is a lot of work.

The other point is if you want to rewrite (on)metis with scotch you cannot do it easily.
They are using some calls to metis which do not exist in scotch.

As far as I understand they prefer to stick to metis which is more widespread than scotch. [...]"

So, if I get it right CA calls metis via an executable (onmetis,
konmetis, onmetis.exe). The difference between metis and metis-edf
is (i think) in these executables and in some other modification to
make it work with CA - maybe the int32/int64 issue.
Those executables are using some library calls that are not implemented
in scotch, and EDF doesn't seems interested to replace metis with scotch.

Bye

Message #102 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org, Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 08:36:48 -0400

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hello Andrea,

On Tue, 2011-05-10 at 12:58 +0100, Andrea Palazzi wrote:
> --- Mar 10/5/11, Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org> ha scritto:
> 
> > Da: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>
> > Oggetto: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations
> > > > I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster
> > software[1] for Debian.
> > > Thanks for your interest in the packaging of Code
> > Aster.
> > > However, you should be aware of a license issue with
> > metis-edf:
> > > http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/node/686
> > > To unblock, we should consider some uploads in
> > non-free and contrib.
> > 
> > How extensive are the differences between metis-edf and
> > metis?  Might it
> > be worth porting those differences to Scotch?  Or does
> > Code Aster use
> > some features of metis not present in Scotch, like
> > element-wise
> > partitioning (instead of node-wise)?
> 
> Hi,
> 
> I know nothing about mesh partitioning, scotch and metis; however here is
> what Cristophe Trohime said to me when we talked about this a month ago
> (the quoted text is mine):
> 
> "[...]> As far as I understand, it's actually possible to build CA without
> > metis; however some functionalities will not be available
> > (RENUM='METIS' in SOLVEUR), and this can be a rather annoying
> > problem, since metis is the default renumerator; however,
> > if CA can switch automatically to another renum, this may
> > become just a performance issue (and a longer list of failing
> > tests, if METIS is explicitly called).
> > For replacing metis with scotch, the library by itself is already
> > there (libscotchmetis), however what is missing are the executables:
> > see this thread http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=14417 
> > , where André says "In case you succeed to make the tests from 
> > liste_internet pass with scotchmetis, I am very interested about your 
> > build (because it means that you can supply an alternative to onmetis, 
> > kmetis and onmetis.exe)."
> 
> I had the opportunity to discuss that with Mathieu Courtois, a ASTER developper, last year.
> He tells me that if we choose Scotch instead of metis it will be better to call directly without using any additionnal programs. But my guess is this is a lot of work.
> 
> The other point is if you want to rewrite (on)metis with scotch you cannot do it easily.
> They are using some calls to metis which do not exist in scotch.
> 
> As far as I understand they prefer to stick to metis which is more widespread than scotch. [...]"
> 
> So, if I get it right CA calls metis via an executable (onmetis,
> konmetis, onmetis.exe).

Great, that way there's no derivative work and no copyright violation,
as there would be if they linked to libmetis (at least in the FSF
interpretation).

> The difference between metis and metis-edf
> is (i think) in these executables and in some other modification to
> make it work with CA - maybe the int32/int64 issue.
> Those executables are using some library calls that are not implemented
> in scotch, and EDF doesn't seems interested to replace metis with scotch.

Ah, that's what I was afraid of.  This is an issue also for Elmer,
though Elmer has an option for node-wise partitioning, which Scotch
supports, and which I enable by default, so it works out-of-the-box.  If
an Elmer user switches that off, they get an error message.

Thanks for this additional information.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Engineering consulting with open source tools
http://www.opennovation.com/

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Message #107 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Pierre JUILLARD <pierre.juillard@gmail.com>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org, Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 14:52:59 +0200

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hi all,

I am not an expert in Debian packaging, nor in Code_Aster developement, nor
in Code_Aster compilation.

This said, I however am a Code_Aster user, and regular Code_Aster forum
reader
Thus I would like to point out this thread[1] indicating that it is (in this
case) preferable to compile Code_Aster with metis, instead of metis-edf.

It may give you some background concerning the importance to have metis-edf
packaged with Code-Aster...

Maybe the best thing to do:
- trying to compile Code-Aster with metis-edf and seeing how many test cases
fail
- trying to compile Code-Aster with metis and seeing how many test cases
fail

I wouldn't be surprised if there was no differences...
The chances that I do not understand what I am saying are important
though...

Bests,

Pierre

[1] http://www.code-aster.org/forum2/viewtopic.php?id=15132




2011/5/10 Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

> On Wed, 2011-05-04 at 10:36 +0200, Sylvestre Ledru wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > > I would like to help in packaging the Code Aster software[1] for
> Debian.
> > Thanks for your interest in the packaging of Code Aster.
> > You are more than welcome to help. If it is not the case now, you could
> > join the Debian Science team and start to update the SVN repository. I
> > will be happy to upload your changes.
> > However, you should be aware of a license issue with metis-edf:
> > http://glaros.dtc.umn.edu/gkhome/node/686
> > To unblock, we should consider some uploads in non-free and contrib.
>
> How extensive are the differences between metis-edf and metis?  Might it
> be worth porting those differences to Scotch?  Or does Code Aster use
> some features of metis not present in Scotch, like element-wise
> partitioning (instead of node-wise)?
>
> -Adam
> --
> GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6
>
> Engineering consulting with open source tools
> http://www.opennovation.com/
>

[Message part 2 (text/html, inline)]

Message #112 received at 458812@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>, Pierre JUILLARD <pierre.juillard@gmail.com>

Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org, Nicolas Chauvat <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>

Subject: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for engineering simulations

Date: Tue, 10 May 2011 15:02:00 +0100 (BST)

> Da: Pierre JUILLARD <pierre.juillard@gmail.com>
> Oggetto: Re: ITP: aster -- Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software for > engineering simulations
> A: "Adam C Powell IV" <hazelsct@debian.org>
> Cc: 458812@bugs.debian.org, debian-science@lists.debian.org, "Nicolas > Chauvat" <nicolas.chauvat@logilab.fr>
> Data: Martedì 10 maggio 2011, 14:52

> Maybe the best thing to do:
> - trying to compile Code-Aster with metis-edf and seeing how many test cases fail
> - trying to compile Code-Aster with metis and seeing how many test cases fail
> 
> I wouldn't be surprised if there was no differences...

Hi,

I also have the feeling that nothing would change; moreover, I also think
that CA can be built (and work) with scotchmetis instead of metis.
At the moment I'm not completely sure wether linking against metis is
really required or not; I've also asked on the forum[1], but had no
answer.
So, when 10.4 will come out, I think I'll try in the first place
to build with scotchmetis, and if this will work - bith the compilation
and the validation tests - I'll also try to build without scotchmetis.
If metis/metis-edf is only called via an external program, we could
upload code-aster in the main section, upload metis-edf on non-free and
make it a recommended/suggested dependance... right?

Bye
Andrea

Message #119 received at 458812-close@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>

To: 458812-close@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Bug#458812: fixed in aster 10.6.0-1-1

Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:34:59 +0000

Source: aster
Source-Version: 10.6.0-1-1

We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version of
aster, which is due to be installed in the Debian FTP archive:

aster_10.6.0-1-1.debian.tar.gz
  to main/a/aster/aster_10.6.0-1-1.debian.tar.gz
aster_10.6.0-1-1.dsc
  to main/a/aster/aster_10.6.0-1-1.dsc
aster_10.6.0-1.orig.tar.gz
  to main/a/aster/aster_10.6.0-1.orig.tar.gz
code-aster-dev_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-dev_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-engine-dbg_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-engine-dbg_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-engine_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-engine_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-mpi-engine-dbg_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-mpi-engine-dbg_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-mpi-engine-dev_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-mpi-engine-dev_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-mpi-engine_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-mpi-engine_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
code-aster-test_10.6.0-1-1_all.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster-test_10.6.0-1-1_all.deb
code-aster_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb
  to main/a/aster/code-aster_10.6.0-1-1_i386.deb



A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one is
attached.

Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
have further comments please address them to 458812@bugs.debian.org,
and the maintainer will reopen the bug report if appropriate.

Debian distribution maintenance software
pp.
Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it> (supplier of updated aster package)

(This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
administrators by mailing ftpmaster@debian.org)


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Format: 1.8
Date: Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:56 +0200
Source: aster
Binary: code-aster code-aster-engine code-aster-dev code-aster-engine-dbg code-aster-mpi-engine code-aster-mpi-engine-dbg code-aster-mpi-engine-dev code-aster-test
Architecture: source all i386
Version: 10.6.0-1-1
Distribution: unstable
Urgency: low
Maintainer: Debian Science Team <debian-science-maintainers@lists.alioth.debian.org>
Changed-By: Andrea Palazzi <palazziandrea@yahoo.it>
Description: 
 code-aster - Code_Aster finite element program - metapackage
 code-aster-dev - Code_Aster finite element program - development files for sequant
 code-aster-engine - Code_Aster finite element program - sequential binary
 code-aster-engine-dbg - Code_Aster finite element program - sequantial binary with debugg
 code-aster-mpi-engine - Code_Aster finite element program - parallel binary
 code-aster-mpi-engine-dbg - Code_Aster finite element program - parallel binary with debuggin
 code-aster-mpi-engine-dev - Code_Aster finite element program - development files for paralle
 code-aster-test - Code_Aster finite element program - test files and examples
Closes: 458812
Changes: 
 aster (10.6.0-1-1) unstable; urgency=low
 .
   * Initial import (Closes: #458812)
     Based on the work of Andre Espaze, Christophe Trophime, Adam C. Powell, IV,
     Sylvestre Ledru and Andrea Palazzi
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