On Sun, 18 Nov 2018 12:00:48 +0100 Fabian Groffen <grob...@gentoo.org> wrote:
> Your point is that the format is broken (== relies on obscure compressor > feature). My point is that the format simply requires a special tool. > The fact that we prefer to use existing tools doesn't imply in any way > that the format is broken to me. > I think you should rewrite your point to mention that you don't want to > use a tool that doesn't exist in @system (?) to unpack a binpkg. My > guess is that you could use some head/tail magic in a script if the > trailing block is upsetting the decompressor. The existing design to the best of my understanding poses problems when it comes to adding new features, as the dependency on a "special tool" becomes the bottleneck, as in order to add the new feature, the special tool has to be adjusted to handle it, and potentially introduce serious incompatible changes. The alternative proposal stated in this pre-GLEP seems infinitely more extensible, which means more room for 3rd-parties to add their own features, while retaining basic portage interop. For instance, I think a "nice" feature that could be added one day would be the ability for the automated package builder to bundle: - The ebuild that was used to build it - All the eclasses that were used by the ebuild - All the sources and patches that were used And therein creating a fat bin/src hybrid, potentially allowing rebuilding the exact same package with minor changes, independently of portage repository changes. And this may be useful for people who don't want the option set in the binary build, but otherwise want the exact same material in a different configuration. In terms of user-friendliness, this could empower Gentoo in new ways, in ways that compete with existing binary distributions wherein upstreams publish .deb files for people to "just install". Presently, the amount of additional hand-holding required (namely: install this overlay, make sure you sync it right, etc, etc, etc) makes it a little too "hands on" for some. Now, I'm not saying Gentoo *should* do exactly this, but I like that this approach gives us the *potential* to do this, and resultingly, some downstream derivatives of Gentoo may be motivated to do something like this, proving usable stand-alone bin-packages which interop nicely with standard Gentoo installations, while also working nicely with downstreams customizations. Achieving this as it is requires downstream to develop their own format, which is likely not going to work with standard Gentoo installs.
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