[indiana-discuss] [Fwd: [desktop-discuss] SFE binary packages for OpenSolaris]

[Shawn Walker]

On Dec 12, 2007 10:59 AM, Darren Kenny <Darren.Kenny at sun.com> wrote:
> Hi Alan,
>
> That's probably true, unfortunately, but I certainly think that there is a lot
> to be said for encouraging further break up of the existing OpenSolaris build
> system from being monolithic to being smaller parts - right now if I want to
> make a change to something like /usr/bin/cat I have to have a complete build of
> ON done - this really does seem excessive to me.
>
> As Alo pointed out - Debian allows for (re)building a binary package from a
> source package - but that is independent of actual build system (Ant, dmake,
> autoconf, etc) that is used to do the build - but what's important is that the
> source package is, in itself, smart enough to know *how* to build, and the
> dependencies needed for the build to be done.
>
> Something like this could still be done for all of OpenSolaris, and if we are
> serious about making it easier for people to contribute, I think we should
> consider it...
>
> In the meantime though, I think the pkgbuild system we have is quite popular and
> works well for most non-ON contributors, I just think we could do more to
> breakdown the monolith that is the ON workspace into more consumable chunks.

That's a project for the ON community.

For the OpenSolaris project as a whole, it will take years.

The Debian/GNU world gets away with this because most software pieces
they build use the autotools.

Whereas Solaris consolidations typically use a mixture of things.

As such, it should be obvious why IPS initially omitted a build
system; trying to get all of the existing consolidations to change to
a new build system would be a nightmare.

As it is, when a new build system is finally provided, it will likely
take years to get everything to where it needs to be.

In the meantime, I would encourage you to send your suggestions for a
build system to pkg-discuss since they will be looking at doing one in
the future.

-- 
Shawn Walker, Software and Systems Analyst
http://binarycrusader.blogspot.com/

"To err is human -- and to blame it on a computer is even more so." -
Robert Orben