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+# Packaging klipper
+
+Klipper is somewhat of a packaging anomaly among python programs, as it doesn't
+use setuptools to build and install. Some notes regarding how best to package it
+are as follows:
+
+## C modules
+
+Klipper uses a C module to handle some kinematics calculations more quickly.
+This module needs to be compiled at packaging time to avoid introducing a
+runtime dependency on a compiler. To compile the C module, run `python2
+klippy/chelper/__init__.py`.
+
+## Compiling python code
+
+Many distributions have a policy of compiling all python code before packaging
+to improve startup time. You can do this by running `python2 -m compileall
+klippy`.
+
+## Versioning
+
+If you are building a package of Klipper from git, it is usual practice not to
+ship a .git directory, so the versioning must be handled without git.  To do
+this, use the script shipped in `scripts/make_version.py` which should be run as
+follows: `python2 scripts/make_version.py YOURDISTRONAME > klippy/.version`.
+
+## Sample packaging script
+
+klipper-git is packaged for Arch Linux, and has a PKGBUILD (package build
+script) available at
+https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/tree/PKGBUILD?h=klipper-git.