Dear list, I am the student that did the "Port bootstrap build-ordering tool" Google Summer of Code project this summer [1]. I am still continuing that work and will turn it into my Master thesis. The tools I developed are currently in use by wookey for doing the arm64 port [2]. A long list of results of my programs as well as outstanding problems can be found in the Debian wiki [3].
For the introduction of my thesis, I want to give a summary of how past ports were accomplished. Since there does not seem to be a mailinglist for general ports (but only for each specific port), I am addressing this email to debian-devel. I created a wiki page to collect the information so that it would also be available to everybody else: http://wiki.debian.org/DebianBootstrap/History If you were ever involved in porting Debian to a new architecture or know how a port was done, please do not hesitate to either write me an email or directly enter the information in the linked wiki page linked above. It assumes that arch labels are established and that gcc, glibc, binutils etc understand the arch. I basically would like to know things like: - did you cross compile parts of Debian? How much? How hard was it? - did you natively compile on another distribution (openembedded, gentoo) - how did you go about finding reduced build dependencies? What were the heuristics you used? How did you find dependency cycles to break and how did you pick a solution? - how long did the port take you? - what were the most common bugs you filed when introducing the new architecture? Having an overview that answers above questions (and anything else noteworthy or quantifiable) can also be useful for future porters to get an overview or ideas how to go about it technically. At the very best, I will get more ideas for heuristics that allow my tools to get better at breaking build dependency cycles. Thanks for your help! cheers, josch [1] http://wiki.debian.org/SummerOfCode2012/StudentApplications/JohannesSchauer [2] http://wiki.debian.org/Arm64Port [3] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianBootstrap/TODO -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/20121113201924.GA16619@hoothoot