[arc-discuss] Discussion requested for a new ARC Policy on "Expectation Taxonomy and Repository Requirements"

[Stephen Hahn]

* Bill Sommerfeld <sommerfeld at sun.com> [2008-04-17 00:38]:
> 
> On Tue, 2008-04-15 at 21:30 -0700, John Plocher wrote:
> 
> >     1. It must allow packages to be tagged with an "expectation
> >        level" taken from the (evolving) set of
> >        [Sandbox, Prototype, Experimental, Preferred, Core]
> 
> If my current project publishes a modified SUNWckr package (or moral
> equivalent -- whatever package delivers /kernel/drv/*/ip*) containing a
> prototype containing some changes which have not yet been through any
> review, with its new functionality, is that package marked "Core" or one
> of the lower-expectation levels like "Sandbox"?  
> 
> If it's marked "Core" how do I set the expectation that these bits
> contain some new stuff which could well fly to pieces if you look at it
> funny, and that I'm releasing it so that people can kick the crap out of
> it before I actually integrate it into the development release?

  What we've been experimenting with for this kind of work is a
  per-project repository.  We don't have automated infrastructure for
  this, but Jyri and the webstack project have been trying it out
  at

  http://pkg.opensolaris.org/webstack/ 

  You publish alternate versions of packages in your per-project
  repository, and invite your testers to switch, by adding your
  repository as an authority and installing the alternate versions.
  Testers can switch back later, either by reverting to an earlier
  snapshot, or reinstalling affected packages from one of the main
  repositories.  Or they can follow along as your project updates its
  own versions of the packages.

  - Stephen

-- 
sch at sun.com  http://blogs.sun.com/sch/