On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 4:40 PM, Sriram Narayanan <sriramnrn at gmail.com> wrote: > Hello list: > > I'm posting the various thoughts that we've had over the past year or > so with respect to a change in packaging. Some of these are points > that have come up in discussions. > > We need a new package format because: > - There are several serious issues (as per Moinak) that were pointed > out about SVR4 in the ARC case for IPS.
But what are those flaws? At least some of those in the ARC case were false; others could be fixed. Not that I think SVR4 is interesting for Belenix. The primary reason for using it would be compatibility, both with other distros and with the installed base, and as Sun have chosen to go their own way there's nothing to be compatible with, and Belenix hasn't got a 20-year old installed base to worry about. But it would be interesting to know what you see as the key functional weaknesses in SVR4 from a Belenix perspective. > - There are widely known and accepted package formats from other > distros and communities (RPM, Deb, etc) which we could leverage. > - Formats that we could consider are RPM and Deb. > > RPM > RPM seems the most interesting format at the moment because: > - popular and widely known package format > - lots of tools (yum, smart, etc) which are RPM aware > - active maintenance, development and feature additions. And spec files are currently widely used to build both Belenix and OpenSolaris packages (eg. jucr). > Deb > - We may explore this too > - Nexenta have done good work here That, for me, would be the reason for looking at deb - compatibility with the Nexenta packages. > - Debian Community's opposition in the past is a matter of concern. > ? ? ? - Need clarity on their position. > ? ? ? - Need to make time and interact with the Debian community > > IPS > We do not want to go with IPS because: > - No point in reinventing the wheel > > Other formats and package managers > - ebuilds, pacman Given that we (as in the OpenSolaris community taken as a whole) are likely to live in a world where multiple packaging systems are used, how is that confusion resolved? Do we simply say that each distro maintains its own packages? Is converting between formats simple? Is the software itself expected to be compatible with multiple distros? What is the story for ISVs who might be interested in producing software for one or more OpenSolaris distros? My own instinct says that, taken in isolation, the best answer for Belenix would be rpm; my worry would be the divergence that would inevitably create. -- -Peter Tribble http://www.petertribble.co.uk/ - http://ptribble.blogspot.com/
