I've been thinking of contributing where I can with new packages. However, I have a few questions about the ground-rules for doing this...
1) How should I handle Intel vs. AMD and 32 vs. 64 bit packages? Must I choose the lowest common denominator, or can I mix and match? 2) Where should things ulimately end up? Example: Suppose I wanted to make a qmail installation package, currently qmail installes by default to /var/qmail. Is this the right place to put things. Should things go in /usr/local or somewhere else? 3) What features should be supported? Example: Suppose I wanted to make a msmtp installation package so a sendmail daemon won't need to be running all the time? There are options for kerberos to be included. Can I make the decision NOT to include this option. If I do, how do I mark the package so people who need this feature will know it's not available. 4) What about third party libraries? Example: For msmtp, I need to have several gnu libraries, such as gsasl to build/run. Do I need to make separate packages for these? Should I use "standard" packages like openssl over the gnu packages when possible? 5) What about conflicting products. Example: In both of the packages above, or a Postfix package, the "sendmail" program must be overridden with the one in the installing package. How does something like this get resolved? Do I just rename the existing sendmail program? Does the "last one installed" win? Where can I find the answers to these kinds of questions and others about IPS when they become apparent? Gary This message posted from opensolaris.org
