# urpmi alien
Pour satisfaire les dépendances, les paquetages suivants vont être installés :
  Paquetage                      Version      Révision      Arch    
(média « Core Release (distrib1) »)
  alien                          8.95.1       1.mga8        noarch  
  debconf                        1.5.74       1.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  debhelper                      13.2         1.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  dpkg                           1.20.5       4.mga8        x86_64  
  dpkg-dev                       1.20.5       4.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  html2text                      1.3.2a       16.mga8       x86_64  (recommandé)
  intltool                       0.51.0       6.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-CGI                       4.510.0      1.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-Convert-ASN1              0.270.0      8.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-Dpkg                      1.20.5       4.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-Time-Piece                1.340.0      2.mga8        x86_64  (recommandé)
  perl-XML-Filter-BufferText     1.10.0       10.mga8       noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-XML-SAX-Writer            0.570.0      4.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  perl-ldap                      0.660.0      2.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)
  po-debconf                     1.0.21       3.mga8        noarch  (recommandé)

$ fakeroot alien --to-deb ./CairoSVG-2.5.1-1.mga8.noarch.rpm 
Package build failed. Here's the log:
dh 
dh: error: specify a sequence to run
make: *** [debian/rules:7 : binary] Erreur 25

This is also reproduced with other rpm.
Upstream site: https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien/
seems rather dead...

Cauldron also affected?? Seems there is 8.95.3 there, done by David G.

Thanks for reporting this bug.
As there is no maintainer for this package I added the committers in CC.

(Please set the status to 'assigned' if you are working on it)

CC: (none) => dan, geiger.david68210, ouaurelien
Source RPM: (none) => alien-8.95.1-1.mga8.src.rpm
Version: 8 => Cauldron
Whiteboard: (none) => MGA8TOO

(In reply to Aurelien Oudelet from comment #1)
... 
> Cauldron also affected?? Seems there is 8.95.3 there, done by David G.

Hi, Aurelien. The result with the "alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.noarch.rpm" package from Cauldron installed in Mageia-8 also negative.

su/password
mkdir /111 && cd /111
wget https://distrib-coffee.ipsl.jussieu.fr/pub/linux/Mageia/distrib/cauldron/x86_64/media/core/release/alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.noarch.rpm
urpmi --auto ./*.rpm
 
rpm -qi alien
Name        : alien
Version     : 8.95.3
Release     : 1.mga9
Architecture: noarch
Install Date: Чт 18 мар 2021 18:18:48
Group       : System/Packaging
Size        : 108182
License     : GPLv2+
Signature   : RSA/SHA256, Чт 04 мар 2021 19:16:20, Key ID b742fa8b80420f66
Source RPM  : alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.src.rpm
Build Date  : Чт 04 мар 2021 19:04:42
Build Host  : localhost
Packager    : daviddavid <daviddavid>
Vendor      : Mageia.Org
URL         : https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien/
Summary     : Install Debian and Slackware Packages with RPM
Description :
Alien is a program that converts between the rpm (Mageia, Mandriva,
Redhat), dpkg (Debian), slp (Stampede), and tgz (Slackware) file formats.
If you want to use a package from another distribution than the one
you have installed on your system, you can use alien to convert
it to your preferred package format and install it.

alien --to-deb alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.noarch.rpm
Package build failed. Here's the log:
dh 
dh: error: specify a sequence to run
make: *** [debian/rules:7: binary] Error 25

@Aurelien

I had a little time and took the liberty of comparing the working package from Mageia-7 (alien-8.95-5.mga7.noarch.rpm) with the non-working one from Mageia-8 (alien-8.95.1-1.mga8.noarch.rpm). I poked at individual files and found that alien normally converts from RPM to DEB after replacement:
/usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/Alien/Package/Deb.pm

Then I opened the non-working alien-8.95.1-1.mgu8.src.rpm package and found a link to the patch in alien.spec that changed the above file. However, this patch looks outdated (perhaps). Then I made a fresh patch based on the original file from the *.src.rpm archive and from Deb.pm from Mageia-7 + raised him by one release for new package. In general, in this form, I have a package earned.

The Deb.pm.patch - patch is just about these "du" that is written in the conversion errors... :)

See attachments:
---
1. alien-8.95.1-2.mga8.tar.gz - contains fixed packages alien-8.95.1-2.mga8.src.rpm and alien-8.95.1-2.mga8.noarch.rpm
2. DIFF.tar.gz - catalog of patch manufacturing Deb.pm.patch
3. Deb.pm.patch - the difference between the original file Deb.pm from the package source archive (Mageia-8) and from the working package from Mageia-7.1

I'm not quite sure I did everything right with the patched package. It would probably be better if someone from experienced maintainers looked at it. However, it works. Thanks.

p.s. Recently made a GUI for alien: https://github.com/AKotov-dev/PConverter
Maybe it will be useful to someone...

Sincerely,
Alex

Created attachment 12474 [details]
alien-8.95.1-2.mga8.tar.gz

Created attachment 12475 [details]
DIFF.tar.gz

Created attachment 12476 [details]
Deb.pm.patch

Thanks for reporting this.
As there is no maintainer for this package I added the committers in CC.

(Please set the status to 'assigned' if you are working on it)

Assignee: bugsquad => pkg-bugs
Status comment: alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.src.rpm affected? Not tested. => alien-8.95.3-1.mga9.src.rpm too

Thanks again Alex
Hope some packager can give it a go.

Ping.

CC: (none) => fri

*** Bug 29774 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

CC: (none) => heiko

That duplicate bug (worth a look) has a reference to an upstream fix:
 http://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=4160

I am upping the importance of this bug because the current package does not work, and a solution is available. 'alien' is a well-known application.

Severity: normal => major
Priority: Normal => High
URL: (none) => http://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=4160

Ping!

(In reply to Morgan Leijström from comment #11)
> Ping!
64 bytes from Alex: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.037 ms
64 bytes from Alex: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=0.031 ms
64 bytes from Alex: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=0.039 ms

Hello, Morgan. ;)

By the way, I checked alien-8.95.5-2.mga9.noarch.rpm from Mageia-9 (Cauldron). It also does not convert RPM to DEB. :(

> fakeroot alien --to-deb mc-4.8.27-1.mga9.x86_64.rpm
Package build failed. Here's the log:
dh binary
   dh_update_autotools_config
   dh_autoreconf
   create-stamp debian/debhelper-build-stamp
   dh_testroot
   dh_prep
   debian/rules override_dh_auto_install
make[1]: Entering directory '/home/marsik/Downloads/mc-4.8.27'
mkdir -p debian/mc
# Copy the packages's files.
find . -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -not -name debian -print0 | \
	sed -e s#'./'##g | \
	xargs -0 -r -i cp -a ./{} debian/mc/{}
make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/marsik/Downloads/mc-4.8.27'
   dh_installdocs
   dh_installchangelogs
   dh_installman
dh_installman: warning: man is not available.  Skipping re-encode of UTF-8 manpages
   dh_perl
   debian/rules override_dh_usrlocal
make[1]: Entering directory '/home/marsik/Downloads/mc-4.8.27'
dh_usrlocal || printf "Your package seems to be installing files into /usr/local/, which could be buggy. Will continue anyway.\n"
make[1]: Leaving directory '/home/marsik/Downloads/mc-4.8.27'
   dh_link
   dh_strip_nondeterminism
Can't exec "dh_strip_nondeterminism": No such file or directory at /usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/Debian/Debhelper/SequencerUtil.pm line 523.
make: *** [debian/rules:7: binary] Error 255


The version I corrected above for Mageia-8 still works. Let me remind you that everything is solved by replacing the file /usr/share/perl5/vendor_perl/Alien/Package/Deb.pm. Including in Mageia-9.

> fakeroot alien --to-deb mc-4.8.27-1.mga9.x86_64.rpm
mc_4.8.27-2_amd64.deb generated

Sincerely,
Alex

Hi Alex,
I see that there is a new release http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/a/alien/alien_8.95.6.tar.xz
Could you apply your patch and test it ?
In the mean time, I will publish this release on cauldron.

CC: (none) => yves.brungard_mageia

With alien from cauldron. alien-8.95.6-1.mga9.noarch
There is now another error
fakeroot alien --to-deb mc-4.8.28-2.mga9.x86_64.rpm 
Package build failed. Here's the log:
dh binary
   dh_update_autotools_config
   dh_autoreconf
   create-stamp debian/debhelper-build-stamp
   dh_testroot
   dh_prep
   debian/rules override_dh_auto_install
make[1] : on entre dans le répertoire « /home/yves/tmp/mc-4.8.28 »
mkdir -p debian/mc
# Copy the packages's files.
find . -maxdepth 1 -mindepth 1 -not -name debian -print0 | \
        sed -e s#'./'##g | \
        xargs -0 -r -i cp -a ./{} debian/mc/{}
make[1] : on quitte le répertoire « /home/yves/tmp/mc-4.8.28 »
   dh_installdocs
   dh_installchangelogs
   dh_installman
dh_installman: error: mv debian/mc/usr/share/man/es/man1/mc.1.xz.dh-new debian/mc/usr/share/man/es/man1/mc.1.xz: No such file or directory
dh_installman: error: Aborting due to earlier error
make: *** [debian/rules:7 : binary] Erreur 25

Any progress?

Per links above it seems Debian had it working in 2021.
Maybe check if it still works by them and if they have patched it further.

Alien seem dead upstream since 10 years
 https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien/

https://joeyh.name/code/alien/ tell a new maintainer produce alien-pkg-convert,
 at https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien-pkg-convert/
- but it seem abandoned since 7 years.

Anyway, maybe better luck trying to make the latter work?

Or another app or procedure to recommend for this task of converting packages?

Whiteboard: MGA8TOO => MGA8TOO, MGA9TOO

(In reply to Morgan Leijström from comment #16)
> Per links above it seems Debian had it working in 2021.
> Maybe check if it still works by them and if they have patched it further.
> 
> Alien seem dead upstream since 10 years
>  https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien/
> 
> https://joeyh.name/code/alien/ tell a new maintainer produce
> alien-pkg-convert,
>  at https://sourceforge.net/projects/alien-pkg-convert/
> - but it seem abandoned since 7 years.
> 
> Anyway, maybe better luck trying to make the latter work?
> 
> Or another app or procedure to recommend for this task of converting
> packages?

You can make a spec that extract the files from the deb https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-extract-a-deb-file-without-opening-it-on-debian-or-ubuntu-linux/

I use this trick some times