[Gtk-sharp-list] New downloads page / redcarpet / opencarpet server

[Ben Maurer]

Hello everyone,

After quite a bit of work, we have revamped our build system and our
download pages.

The most important change is for people getting mono via Red Carpet or
via Yum. 

Red Carpet Users
----------------

You should execute the following commands:

rug sa http://go-mono.com/download
rug sub mono-1.1-official
rug sub gtk-sharp-official
rug in mono-complete gtk-sharp

(a gtk-sharp-2.0-official is available on fc3, nld9 and suse 9.3 with
gtk# 1.9.3 packages)

Yum Users
---------

You should use the following .repo file:

http://www.go-mono.com/download/fedora-3-i386/mono.repo

Note that neither of these services offer the 1.0.x series. Those are
still available at the old locations.

New Downloads Page
------------------

Our downloads page (http://www.mono-project.com/Downloads) has been
vastly simplified. The page only asks you to select your distro. As
well, we have taken the effort to put all of the packages for each
distro on one page -- you don't have to search for Gtk# packages, xsp
packages, and monodoc packages separately.

The new downloads page does not have packages for 1.0.x. You can go to
the older releases page (http://www.mono-project.com/OldReleases) to
find those.

x86-64 Packages
---------------

We now have x86-64 packages for mono. While I've only tried them with
SLES9 and NLD9, there is no reason they would not work on Fedora or SUSE
9.3. Hopefully we can have jails for those in the near future.

Gtk# is not yet packaged for x86-64; I hope to get this done in the near
future. Same goes for libgdiplus

Cross distro package sharing
----------------------------

Mono rpms are now built once per arch (ie, an x86 and a x86-64). This is
nice for people with multiple computers as they only have to download
one mono package. It also reduces our build times.

Perl XML packages are gone
--------------------------

The perl xml packages needed for gtk# gapi are no longer built. For
Redhat/Fedora distros, you can find them on DAG's site
(http://dag.wieers.com/packages/). On SUSE distros, they come with the
operating system.

Open scripts
------------

The scripts we are using to build packages, upload them, and update the
website are in the `release' modules on subversion in the packaging and
website directories. There are some very useful snippits in there if you
need to build your own packages.

Patch free building
-------------------

For the set of rpms we are building right now, we apply only one patch
(a patch to Gtk# 1.0 to get it to build on an old RHEL platform) total.
This will make it easier for others who wish to package mono to make
good packages.

What to expect next
-------------------

Hopefully, we will be able to package MonoDevelop in the near future (as
well as its dependencies). We are also looking at doing snapshot rpms
from subversion. Stay tuned! 

Problems?
---------

If anyone encounters broken links or packaging bugs, please email me.

-- Ben