Summary: I want to turn my main system into a semi-automatic follower
of "-current" and I think this strategy may useful to the project. Is
this something that is already being done?
My rationale here is that it's a good thing for OpenBSD users who have
the technical skills to follow development as closely as possible,
Running from a tightly synchronized copy of "-current" enables the
user to produce the most useful bug reports in a timely manner. Seeing
a list of CVS updates also helps the user to understand how the
project is ticking.
While not a system expert, I've got a lot of application development
skills to offer but I'm also lazy enough to want to script the
laborious process of following "-current".
I've searched for automated update tools for "-current" but I don't
see what I think should be there. What I have in mind is a layered set
of tools that keeps the /usr/src, /usr/xenocara and /usr/ports trees
up to date by regular synchronization, then builds a kernel if a
successful sync occurs. I have enough slack time to make this easy on
my main system.
The idea is that the system regularly (nightly) synchronizes all three
main source directories, then rebuilds and installs the latest GENERIC
kernel if synchronization is successful. As owner I can decide whether
or not to reboot into the new kernel. I then have the option of
starting a rebuild of the userland to synchronize it with the kernel.
The same procedure can perhaps try to sync the installed packages (#
pkg-add -u).
Perhaps also an automated script to rebuild installed packages from
the synchronized ports tree. This would enable users like me to
quickly check our bugs against the latest build with kernel, userland
and ports all synchronized thus encouraging us to make a bug report in
the knowledge that it will be useful. If there is an RSS feed for the
"Following current" page that can be folded in.
I've got a prototype that tries to do most of these steps. Am I
reinventing the wheel? Does this kind of thinking fit in with OpenBSD
project requirements? Please let me know. I'm interested in helping
OpenBSD in any way I can. Up to now I've followed Snapshots, but I
find that less than satisfactory because from that point of view the
development process is removed and rather opaque. My scripts enable me
to watch the workflow across the project, and give me a feeling of
involvement that I could not get from upgrading from binary image
every few days.
