Remove use of distutils

[terop]

As of Python 3.12 setuptools is no longer installed by default and if setuptools is not installed distutils is not found and SafeEyes fails to start.

Furthermore distutils is deprecated and should thus not be used anymore. The packaging module provides a replacement for LooseVersion and it is added in this commit.

[terop]

PEP 632 reference added.

[deltragon]

Should the new dependency also be added to the debian/control file? (Adding a dependency on https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/python3-packaging there)

[terop]

@deltragon That's a good question which I cannot adequately answer as I have never done Debian packaging. If you think it should be added I can certainly add it.

[archisman-panigrahi]

Should the new dependency also be added to the debian/control file? (Adding a dependency on https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/python3-packaging there)

Yes, we need to add python3-packaging to the build-depends field in debian/control. https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/debian/control#L5

(I have been doing deb packaging for several years)

[terop]

Thanks for your input @archisman-panigrahi. I added python3-packaging per your suggestion.

[archisman-panigrahi]

In that case, we should bump python version requirement to 3.12+ in debian/control, and also remove python3-setuptools from the build-depends.

[terop]

Changes done. @archisman-panigrahi can you kindly check if the latest changes look correct?

[archisman-panigrahi]

I verified that the deb package builds with your PR in Ubuntu 24.04 and it runs fine. However, also please update python3 version requirement in this line.

Otherwise, I approve merging

[archisman-panigrahi]

Looks good, and I approve merging.

[archisman-panigrahi]

By the way, is this line still necessary, if setuptools is being discontinued? https://github.com/slgobinath/SafeEyes/blob/master/setup.py#L3

[terop]

I suppose we are not discontinuing setuptools, at least not in this PR.