`foomatic-db-ppds` uses the Foomatic database from the packages
`foomatic-db` and -- optionally -- `foomatic-db-nonfree`
and the perl modules from `foomatic-db-engine`
to generate about 8,800 ppd files.
The general structure of the build recipe is as follows:
* Merge `foomatic-db` and `foomatic-db-nonfree` into
one package that represents the Foomatic database.
The package `foomatic-db-nonfree` is optional
as it taints the result license-wise;
it will only be used if `withNonfreeDb`
is to to `true` in the `callPackage` call.
We create a tiny setup hook script that provides the combined
database and sets an environment variable pointing to the
database direcotry, which is expected by the foomatic engine.
* The final package's license and version are computed
from the licenses and versions of the database packages.
The license is set to `free` if each database-providing
package has a free license, and to `unfree` otherwise.
The version is simply the highest version
of the database-providing packages.
* The final package uses `foomatic-compiledb`
from the `foomatic-db-engine` package to extract
all ppd files from the database packages.
`patchPpdFilesHook` is used to patch most
executable invocations in the ppd files
so that they point to nix store paths.
Finally, ppd files are gzipped to reduce storage
(from about 550 MiB to 90 MiB installed).
The "nonfree" version of the package, i.e. the version that is
based on `foomatic-db-nonfree` in addition to `foomatic-db`,
contains about 120 additional ppd files
compared to the "free" version.
Since the "free" version already produces about 8,700
ppd files and hydra won't build the "nonfree" version,
the commit adds two package variables to `all-packages.nix`:
* `foomatic-db-ppds` is based on `foomatic-db` only
* `foomatic-db-ppds-withNonfreeDb`
is also based on `foomaitc-db-nonfree`
The package introduced by this commit
is the result of combining other packages;
it is not the build product of a simple source tarball.
While it would also be possible to perform the ppd file
generation directly in the build process of the database
packages, this would yield further complexity as the
`foomatic-db-nonfree` package needs to be combined with the
`foomatic-db` package before ppd file extraction is possible.
There is no upstream product with a name that
could/should be used for the `name` attribute,
the variable name, or for the filename in nixpkgs.
Similar packages have different names across distributions:
* https://repology.org/projects/?search=openprinting
* https://repology.org/projects/?search=foomatic
The name `foomatic-db-ppds` seems to be most common
(albeit not really *that* common):
* https://repology.org/project/foomatic-db-ppds/versions
At least openSUSE splits their corresponding
package into multiple "binary" packages
(similar to our multi-output packages):
* https://build.opensuse.org/package/binaries/Printing/OpenPrintingPPDs/openSUSE_Tumbleweed
I considered something similar.
However, after doing some statistics,
I concluded that it's not worth the effort:
The biggest dependencies (`perl` and `cups-filters`) are
already present on most NixOS systems, and they cannot
be "split away" easily since it cannot be
done along a canonical line (e.g. printer driver).
Splitting directly by dependency risks that ppd files
unexpectedly "move from output to output" on package updates;
disappearing ppd files can be quite annoying for package users.
`foomatic-db-nonfree` contains -- similar to its sister
package `foomatic-db` -- knowledge about printers,
drivers, and driver options from OpenPrinting in xml files.
It needs to be combined with the `foomatic-db`
package to yield a working database.
It also provides about 100 (gzipped) ppd files.
In contrast to `foomatic-db`, this package contains
data that is provided under non-free licenses.
Quoting
https://github.com/OpenPrinting/foomatic-db-nonfree/blob/master/README
> This is a repository of PPD and Foomatic XML files that may
> have restrictions that keep them from being used on a variety
> of machines for licensing and other non-technical reasons.
ppd files can be found in
`$out/share/cups/model/foomatic-db-nonfree`.
The subdirectory `foomatic-db-nofree` is used to avoid conflicts
with other packages that might be combined with the package
`foomatic-db-nonfree` in `config.services.printing.drivers`.
ppd files in this package are *not* patched
to call executables from the nix store:
The only executable "rastertophaser6100" that is
called from ppd files isn't available in nixpkgs.
There is a daily snapshot of a source archive available at
https://www.openprinting.org/download/foomatic/ .
However, these files rotate daily and
cannot be used as a stable download source.
So we rely on OpenPrinting's Github repository
instead and pinpoint a fresh commit.
Note that the current version is from 2015,
so updates are unlikely.
`foomatic-db` contains the collected knowledge about printers,
drivers, and driver options from OpenPrinting in xml files.
It also provides thousands of ppd files.
The build process patches those files to reference executables
in the nix store and gzips them to reduce storage
(from about 670 MiB to 90 MiB installed).
In contrast to the sister package `foomatic-db-nonfree`
(packaged in a follow-up commit),
this package only includes files published under a free license.
Most files are published under the GPL,
some under the MIT license.
For details see
https://github.com/OpenPrinting/foomatic-db/blob/master/COPYING .
To encompass the different licenses, the package's
license is set to "free" as the common denominator.
ppd files can be found in `$out/share/cups/model/foomatic-db`.
The subdirectory `foomatic-db` is used to avoid conflicts
with other packages that might be combined with the package
`foomatic-db` in `config.services.printing.drivers`.
There is a daily snapshot of a source archive available at
https://www.openprinting.org/download/foomatic/ .
However, these files rotate daily and
cannot be used as a stable download source.
So we rely on OpenPrinting's Github repository
instead and pinpoint a fresh commit.
`foomatic-db-engine` contains several perl scripts to parse
and process XML files from the Foomatic database packages.
It can be used to extract ppd files,
which will be accomplished in a follow-up commit.
The package also contains scripts
to handle print queues and jobs.
It can -- optionally -- talk to the local cups server,
to network printers and to SMB print servers.
The build recipe contains switches to enable these features;
however, they are not needed when generating ppd files.
There is a daily snapshot of a source archive available at
https://www.openprinting.org/download/foomatic/ .
However, these files rotate daily and
cannot be used as a stable download source.
So we rely on OpenPrinting's Github repository
instead and pinpoint a fresh commit.
