I've written some python code and now wish to make an
RPM for it.

This is the first time I've actually looked at making
RPMs, so please excuse any dumb questions.

So now for a dumb question....

Is it preferable to specify a URL for the "Source"
field in a .spec file (rather than just a filename)?

eg. from distutils/command/bdist_rpm.py code.
--- snip ---
  spec_file.append('Source0:
%{name}-%{version}.tar.gz')                           
                                                         
--- snip ---

If so, might I suggest you add something like a
"--source-baseurl=BASE_URL" option.  That is set to ''
by default.

(see my attached patch against revision 1.43 of
bdist_rpm.py)

Which is then used something like:
          
python setup.py bdist_rpm 
--source-urlbase="http://download.here.com/from/this/path" 

Which will create a line in the .spec file something like:

Source0:
http://download.here.com/from/this/path/%{name}-%{version}.tar.gz

Cheers.

Chris.

> Is it preferable to specify a URL for the "Source"
> field in a .spec file (rather than just a filename)?

Fedora (see for example http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging/SourceURL ) encourages using a full url when available, so having some way of specifying the url looks like a useful addition to me.

see msg108752