deb packages for OpenSfM available, what to do with it?

[ulikoehler]

I managed to put together a PPA containing OpenSfM and all dependencies for Ubuntu 16.04 here:
https://launchpad.net/~ulikoehler/+archive/ubuntu/opensfm using some scripts frommy deb-buildscripts repository: https://github.com/ulikoehler/deb-buildscripts

One advantage is that you don't have to install all the build dependencies and it's not a manual multi-step process any more, but just

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ulikoehler/opensfm
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install opensfm

I'm opening this issue now to ask for ideas where the PPA could be integrated. I think it would be a good idea integrating it into the README of OpenSfM, but I'm not sure if integrating it into the Docker script would cause any unintended side effects. Please feel free to share your ideas.

[paulinus]

This is awesome @ulikoehler !

Many people struggle to install the dependencies, so we should update the README offering this installation option.

For Docker maybe we can wait. Docker users may be more comfortable compiling dependencies.

Which version is installed by the PPA? Do you have a plan for handling updates? We just started versioning releases (starting with the current v0.0.0). Would be good for the package to update on new releases.

thanks!

[ulikoehler]

Thanks for your feedback @paulinus !

The repository previously contained the git master at time of building, but as you've now started versioning it, I've modified the build script to build version v0.0.0 (from the corresponding git branch). It's 100% vanilla OpenSfM, I don't need to apply any patches.

When a new version comes out, I'll just need to update the package version in the build script https://github.com/ulikoehler/deb-buildscripts/blob/master/deb-opensfm.py#L7 and re-upload the source package to Launchpad. The binary package is built by launchpad.

I'll try to work on the README as soon as I have some time to spare. Do you think it makes sense to move the current Linux section (i.e. how to manually compile & install deps) to the wiki and replace them by the deb instructions?

[paulinus]

I think it is ok to have the apt-get install option only on the README. Details on how to build are already in the docs here http://opensfm.readthedocs.io/en/latest/building.html