cdrkit

Overview

cdrkit is a set of command-line tools for working with CD and DVD media. In a Linux distribution, a package like this usually exists to provide the classic disc-authoring utilities that other scripts, legacy workflows, and manual maintenance tasks still expect. The upstream tool family is traditionally used for creating ISO images, writing discs, inspecting disc images, and related optical-media tasks. (cdrtools.sourceforge.net)

This package is mainly useful where optical-media workflows still matter: preparing installation media, archiving data to disc, checking disc images, or supporting older automation that calls the traditional tool names directly. Typical users are system administrators, release engineers, build and CI/CD maintainers who still generate disc images, and desktop users who need command-line optical-media tools.

Purpose and typical use cases

Common use cases include:

• creating ISO images from a directory tree;
• writing or verifying disc images;
• inspecting optical media and filesystem images;
• supporting scripts that were written around the historical CD/DVD command-line toolset.

The package is not a general desktop media suite. It is a small, practical command-line toolset that is often used as a dependency of scripts or packaging workflows rather than as a user-facing application.

Upstream project

The upstream project provides a family of optical-media tools. The historical toolset includes utilities such as genisoimage, wodim, icedax, isoinfo, isovfy, and related helpers. Debian’s manpage index for src:cdrkit lists these tools, which is a useful reference for what the package family contains. (manpages.debian.org)

If a NiceOS update depends on a specific upstream behavior, maintainers should verify that behavior against the upstream documentation and the package’s current build outputs before merging the update.

Dist-git repository contents

This RPM dist-git repository is organized as follows:

• SPECS/ — RPM spec files and packaging logic;
• SOURCES/ — source manifests and integrity metadata used by the packaging workflow;
• METADATA/ — repository metadata maintained by the packaging system;
• SBOM/ — software bill of materials material, when present for this package.

Large upstream source archives are intentionally not stored in this Git repository. Instead, source integrity is tracked through the manifest files in SOURCES/, so maintainers can verify what should be fetched without keeping bulky archive payloads in Git.

Source storage and integrity policy

For this package, the source policy is simple:

• Git stores packaging metadata, not the full upstream source archive;
• SOURCES/ records the source payloads that should be used for builds;
• maintainers should verify that the manifests still point to the intended upstream source set before changing the package.

Do not rely on Git history alone to prove source integrity. Check the SOURCES/ manifests and the upstream release material together.

NiceOS maintenance notes

Before updating this package, NiceOS maintainers should check:

• whether upstream still provides the same tool names and expected behaviors used by downstream scripts;
• whether packaging patches still apply cleanly;
• whether any files in SPECS/ need refresh after upstream changes;
• whether SOURCES/ manifests need regeneration if the source set changes;
• whether SBOM/ material should be refreshed when the packaged content changes;
• whether old assumptions in the spec file depend on removed or renamed upstream programs.

Practical risks to consider:

• command-line option drift that can break automation;
• renamed or split utilities that affect wrapper scripts;
• build-time changes that alter installed file paths or man pages;
• accidental source mismatch if the manifest and the upstream download are not updated together.

Build and verification checklist

A maintainer update should normally include the following checks:

1. Confirm the upstream source set matches the manifests in SOURCES/.
2. Review the spec for any stale patches, build flags, or file lists.
3. Rebuild the package in a clean environment.
4. Inspect the build log for warnings, missing files, or changed install paths.
5. Run the package’s basic smoke tests if available.
6. Verify that the expected binaries and man pages are installed.
7. Check that any SBOM or metadata files still describe the packaged content correctly.
8. Confirm that scripts depending on legacy tool names still work.

References

• Upstream homepage
• Debian manpage index for cdrkit tools
• Cdrtools FAQ

Russian documentation

See README_RU.md for the Russian documentation.

Dist-git repository notes

• Package repository: rpms/cdrkit
• NiceOS branch: niceos-5.2
• This README is intentionally stable and does not include EVR, source archive checksums or lock hashes.