DFSG NEW Queue - Review: ocaml-bstr 0.1.1-1

Review: ocaml-bstr 0.1.1-1

Package Information

Description	simple library for OCaml bigstrings (dev) This small set of libraries offers a homogeneous API between 2 types and their derivations with the slice type, as well as a small DSL for decoding "packets" (such as ARP or DNS) without too much difficulty. The aim is to homogenize the 2 types bytes and bigstring and to derive them with a slice type, giving the user all the levers needed to manipulate byte sequences, whether in the form of a bigstring or bytes. The slice view avoids copying when it comes to decoding a packet and extracting a sub-part. The slice also applies to bigstrings, whose Bigarray.Array1.sub is more expensive. This set of libraries is a synthesis of astring (which offers a range of useful functions as well as slice), cstruct (which offers a similar API for bigstrings), bigstringaf (which offers some other useful functions), the standard OCaml library and repr for decoding/encoding these values into OCaml records/variants. This package contains development files.
Maintainer	Debian OCaml Maintainers <debian-ocaml-maint@lists.debian.org>
Changed By	Stéphane Glondu <glondu@debian.org>
Sponsor	glondu@debian.org
Distribution	unstable
Architecture	any
VCS	git: https://salsa.debian.org/ocaml-team/ocaml-bstr.git (browse)
Closes	#1150680
Tracker	https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/ocaml-bstr
Uploaded	26 days ago

New Package Report

.changes◂

Date	Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:16:53 +0200
Source	ocaml-bstr
Version	0.1.1-1
Changed-By	Stéphane Glondu <glondu@debian.org>
Architecture	source amd64
Distribution	unstable

Changelog◂

ocaml-bstr (0.1.1-1) unstable; urgency=medium
 .
   * Initial release (Closes: #1150680)

.dsc◂

Section	ocaml
Priority	optional
Component	main
Package-List	libbstr-ocaml deb ocaml optional arch=any libbstr-ocaml-dev deb ocaml optional arch=any

debian/copyright◂

Format: https://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/copyright-format/1.0/

Files: *
Copyright: 2024-2026, Romain Calascibetta
License: MIT

Files: debian/*
Copyright: 2026, Stéphane Glondu <glondu@debian.org>
License: MIT

License: MIT
 Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
 this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
 the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
 use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of
 the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
 subject to the following conditions:
 .
 The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
 copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 .
 THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
 IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
 FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
 COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
 IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN
 CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Review Information

rejected — allocated to awm 25 days ago, started 25 days ago, completed 25 days ago.

Final Comment

Hi,

The license is mis-recognized as 'MIT' when it is in fact 'ISC', and one other issue.

[important] [licensing] debian/copyright omits the astring copyright and short-names the licence MIT although
the files carry ISC text

Files: debian/copyright (Files: * stanza, lines 3-5; License: MIT paragraph), lib/bstr.ml:1-4, lib/dune, lib/bstr.c, lib/bin.ml... headers, CHANGES.md (v0.0.3)
Evidence: Copyright (c) 2015 The astring programmers / SPDX-License-Identifier: ISC / Copyright (c) 2024 Romain Calascibetta in lib/bstr.ml, and Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose with or without fee is hereby granted... (the ISC text) in every .ml/.c header, vs Files: * / Copyright: 2024-2026, Romain Calascibetta / License: MIT with the MIT text in debian/copyright. CHANGES.md v0.0.3: "Fix license and mention astring developpers".
Problem: A second copyright holder (the astring programmers) and a second licence (ISC) genuinely present in the headers are not declared, so debian/copyright is incomplete and its short name does not match the actual licence text of the files (Policy 12.5, DEP-5: all holders must be listed and the text must reflect the licence). Not a DFSG problem: ISC and MIT are both free and compatible. The bstr.ml attribution is intentional upstream, not an accident.
Fix: Add a stanza for the astring-derived content of lib/bstr.ml (Copyright: 2015, The astring programmers, License: ISC, ISC text is in /usr/share/common-licenses/ISC), and align the short name/text of the other stanzas with what the file headers actually carry (ISC), in agreement with upstream on whether the project is MIT or ISC.

[important] [packaging] Upstream bin library is not built or installed although the Description advertises its decoding DSL

Files: debian/debian-dune, debian/control (Description of libbstr-ocaml-dev and libbstr-ocaml), lib/dune (bin library, public_name bin)
Evidence: debian/debian-dune lists only bstr and slice; the ocaml_dune buildsystem builds and installs exactly the packages listed there (dune build/install -p bstr,slice). lib/dune defines (library (public_name bin) ...) and a bin.opam ships in the source. The Description says "as well as a small DSL for decoding 'packets' (such as ARP or DNS)", which is provided only by the bin library (Bstr.mli contains no decoder).
Problem: A whole public upstream library (bin, with its decoder/encoder DSL) is silently dropped from the binaries while the package description explicitly promises that feature, which would mislead users. If the omission is deliberate the description is wrong; if accidental, the library is missing.
Fix: Confirm intent: add bin to debian/debian-dune (it needs no extra build dependencies) so the DSL ships, or drop the decoder-DSL sentence from both Descriptions.

Thanks!

Other Reviews of this Package

Version	Hash	Allocated	Completed	Reviewer	Status	Details
0.1.1-2	5e57add8…	2026-10-16 00:27	2026-10-16 00:31	awm	accepted	VIEW

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