[advocacy-discuss] Software 'wish list'!

[Shawn Walker]

On Jun 21, 2009, at 11:36 PM, Laurent Blume wrote:
> Shawn Walker a écrit :
>> I think the word repository 'evokes' some sort of image that  
>> implies an entire collection of software, when that really isn't  
>> true.
>
> ... I did think it implied that, thus it wouldn't easily fit on a  
> media, or just take hours to move files.
>

I like to think of a repository as a train headed towards a depot  
(hence pkg.depotd for network serving :)).  And as you know, each  
train has a different number of cars.  Abusing analogies is fun...

>> The version of pkgrecv in the ips source gate right now has the  
>> ability to extract and republish specific packages from one  
>> repository to another or create a new one on the fly.
>> So for example, if you wanted just gcc and its dependencies in a  
>> new repository on a filesystem:
>> pkgrecv -s http://pkg.opensolaris.org/dev -d file:///path/to/repo - 
>> r SUNWgcc
>
> And that *is* nice :-)
>

Be aware there is a difference between file:///path/ and /path/.  The  
latter just dumps the raw contents into a directory, the former  
publishes to a repository.  I know that seems subtle, but it was  
mainly for backwards compatibility and to enforce the idea that  
repositories live at a specific URI.  "man pkgrecv" for the version of  
pkgrecv in the gate (and in the soon to be released, I hope, build  
116) has the details and examples.

>> Delaying an on-disk format has been a significant advantage for us  
>> since it forced and allowed a refinement of the network-centric  
>> portions of the design.  Remember that pkg(5) was only just started  
>> near the end of 2007, so design and implementation have been  
>> occurring rapidly.
>> Because of the delay, the on-disk format when it is implemented  
>> will be much better than it would have been had we attempted one at  
>> the beginning because other parts of the system have changed.
>
> That sounds great! :-)
> Roadmap would be nice indeed. I understand it wasn't possible at the  
> beginning, not many resources for that. But now we're getting to a  
> point where Sun is extending support duration for OS.c, and talking  
> about Solaris Next. Having a roadmap would allow some planning  
> forward.


2010.02 will see a lot more polish and functionality geared towards  
enterprise and off-line environments.  We'll also be continuing ARC  
review in the near future, so I imagine you will see a much clearer  
roadmap then.

Cheers,
-- 
Shawn Walker