This sounds like an excellent idea, though I'm skeptical you would be able to automatically download source. Many times I find that I have to scour the internet to find the source for java dependencies, which could be packaged in different ways, or require me to package it myself from a source repository. This is much easier when dealing with Python (PyPi) or Ruby (RubyGems) since there are central repositories that contain the sources you're looking for.

While it would certainly be possible, it would not be trivial by any means. Can't wait to see how it goes; I would definitely use this tool!

On Tue, Sep 11, 2012 at 5:38 AM, Mikolaj Izdebski <mizdebsk@redhat.com> wrote:
> I would just add a note that it should be clear enough that this will
> generate RPMs that would not be supportable on Fedora infrastructure.
> In other words the tool would download binary jars from maven central,
> place them in correct subdirectory in (/usr/share/java/maven2rpm/ for
> example) and create proper depmaps so the resulting RPMs would be
> integrated with rest of the system.

No, not at all. This tool would create spec files that after some minor
manual tweaks could be included as a part of Fedora.

This tool would download *source* tarballs and extract metadata from
pom.xml files creating package skeleton with one artifact per subpackage,
%build section consisting of mvn-rpmbuild and so on. Such package would
meet packaging guidelines and could definitely  be used to package
software for inclusion in Fedora.

Mikolaj Izdebski



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If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. - Rene Descartes