dh_auto_configure: error: unable to load build system class 'python_distutils'

[Santiago Vila]

Hi.

Am I the first person who gets this weird errors?

dh_auto_configure: error: unable to load build system class 'python_distutils': Can't locate Debian/Debhelper/Buildsystem/python_distutils.pm in @INC (you may need to install the Debian::Debhelper::Buildsystem::python_distutils module) (@INC entries checked: /etc/perl /usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5.40.0 /usr/local/share/perl/5.40.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl5/5.40 /usr/share/perl5 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl-base /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5.40 /usr/share/perl/5.40 /usr/local/lib/site_perl) at (eval 2) line 1.
BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at (eval 2) line 1.

It happens at least when building any of the following packages:

cloudkitty-dashboard
designate-dashboard
freezer-web-ui
heat-dashboard
ironic-ui
magnum-ui
manila-ui
masakari-dashboard
mistral-dashboard
networking-bgpvpn
neutron-vpnaas-dashboard
octavia-dashboard
sahara-dashboard
senlin-dashboard
trove-dashboard
vitrage-dashboard
watcher-dashboard
zaqar-ui

but I guess it could be a more general problem.

Normally this kind of thing is announced in advance
and bugs are filed in advance, but I don't see anything
in this case.

Also: It must be something recent because I did an archive
rebuild of sid three days ago and this still did not happen.

Could it be related to #1090343 ?

Thanks.

[Stefano Rivera]

Hi Santiago (2024.12.17_23:46:03_+0000)

If you were still relying on python_distutils, you were doing something
horribly wrong. It has never supported Python 3.

You want to use pybuild instead.

Post by Santiago Vila
Normally this kind of thing is announced in advance
and bugs are filed in advance, but I don't see anything
in this case.

It was obviously assumed that nobody still depended on this.

Post by Santiago Vila
Also: It must be something recent because I did an archive
rebuild of sid three days ago and this still did not happen.
Could it be related to #1090343 ?

The relevant bug is https://bugs.debian.org/1089715

Stefano

[Santiago Vila]

Thanks a lot for your quick reply.

Post by Stefano Rivera
If you were still relying on python_distutils, you were doing something

horribly wrong.

Not really me. Asking for a friend :-)

Post by Stefano Rivera
It was obviously assumed that nobody still depended on this.

Ok, I guess we should report those asap.

Can you give me a list of packages potentially broken
by this, so that I can rebuild them and report them
if they now fail?

Thanks.

[Santiago Vila]

Post by Santiago Vila
Can you give me a list of packages potentially broken
by this

Would

grep buildsystem=python_distutils

on the (previous) build logs be a good start?

Thanks.

[Santiago Vila]

Hi. I found 316 affected packages, which I reported here:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=debian-***@lists.debian.org;tag=python-distutils

I'm using a tag so that the bug numbers are easy to get, just in case you people
want to reconsider if adding 316 RC bugs in a day (not reported before with
severity:important) is really a good idea.

Thanks.

[Louis-Philippe Véronneau]

Post by Santiago Vila
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/pkgreport.cgi?users=debian-
I'm using a tag so that the bug numbers are easy to get, just in case you people
want to reconsider if adding 316 RC bugs in a day (not reported before with
severity:important) is really a good idea.
Thanks.

FWIW, this lintian tag also flags the use of the distutils library
(amongst other deprecated stdlibs):

https://udd.debian.org/lintian-tag/uses-deprecated-python-stdlib?affected=yes

[Andrey Rakhmatullin]

Post by Stefano Rivera
Hi Santiago (2024.12.17_23:46:03_+0000)
If you were still relying on python_distutils, you were doing something
horribly wrong. It has never supported Python 3.
You want to use pybuild instead.

Post by Santiago Vila
Normally this kind of thing is announced in advance
and bugs are filed in advance, but I don't see anything
in this case.

It was obviously assumed that nobody still depended on this.

Post by Santiago Vila
Also: It must be something recent because I did an archive
rebuild of sid three days ago and this still did not happen.
Could it be related to #1090343 ?

The relevant bug is https://bugs.debian.org/1089715

Apparently the answer to "it's been totally non-functional since Python 2
was removed from unstable/testing in 2022: it starts by trying to run
pyversions, which no longer exists" is "everything that uses it is skipped
via overrides":

https://tracker.debian.org/media/packages/p/python-extras/rules-1.0.0-5
https://tracker.debian.org/media/packages/p/python-designateclient/rules-6.1.0-2
https://tracker.debian.org/media/packages/o/ovn-bgp-agent/rules-3.0.0-1

etc.