[Bro-Dev] bro-pkg v0.3

[Siwek, Jon]

Feedback from the previous bro-dev thread is now addressed and I’d consider this version of the package manager ready for people to start trying out.  Documentation:

http://bro-package-manager.readthedocs.io/

Notes/questions:

* Docs are now hosted at Read the Docs instead of GitHub

I found it more straightforward to setup/use/maintain docs on RtD.  It automatically builds docs upon committing to master or making a release tag.  See [1] for directions on how the docs could be made reachable at a bro.org domain, but still hosted at RtD.

* A package submission process is found in the README of https://github.com/bro/packages

Which is just my idea of what the process will look like, so please comment if it differs from anyone’s expectations.

* I’ve put it on PyPi [2] and it’s installable via `pip`

What are thoughts on making this the standard installation process for bro-pkg instead of bundling it into the Bro distribution?  Benefits:

1) Decoupling from Bro’s release cycle.  Seems like the kind of tool where it’s important to have quick/lightweight releases/patches that are easy for users to upgrade to.  Would bundling in with Bro make for a more cumbersome upgrade path?

2) Installing via pip will automatically install dependencies (gitpython, semantic-version).  Installing those automatically via Bro’s CMake, while probably possible, seems unusual/hacky.

A downside would be that the first-time configuration is currently easier if done via Bro’s CMake since it can fill in all the paths of bro-pkg.config automatically.  But I also see potential for addressing that in a way that doesn’t involve putting bro-pkg into Bro’s CMake.  E.g. if there were `bro —config site_dir` and `bro —config plugin_dir` commands that could be executed from the command-line, bro-pkg could just use those to autogenerate an appropriate config.

- Jon

[1] http://read-the-docs.readthedocs.io/en/latest/alternate_domains.html
[2] https://pypi.python.org/pypi/bro-pkg