Re: [gentoo-dev] RFC: Proposal for addition of distribution variables

[A. Wilcox]

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On 04/12/16 21:21, Daniel Campbell wrote:
> How would we ensure (or encourage) that other distros based on
> Gentoo would follow this practice? Adding things to PMS isn't a
> panacea, sure, but from what I can tell it seems the goal here is
> to allow distros based on us to correctly *show* that without
> changing hundreds of lines in the package tree. Maybe that's
> outside of PMS; if so, where does this belong?

I would hope people would consult base/make.defaults and write their
own, which would lead them towards the variables they need to set.
However, there was a fair amount of legwork I had to do and find out
with good old trial-by-error when I was writing one.


> Of course, this solution requires action/patching on our behalf as
> well, but it seems like a long-term goal that, when completed, may
> be suitable for addition in some sort of standard document, even if
> it's a wiki page on how to roll your own distro based on us.

I have plenty of experience with that and I would be more than willing
to help write such a page if that is desired.


> It didn't seem to me that there was any intention to automatically
> guess which distro it is; the people in charge of each distro's
> package tree should be setting those variables to the correct
> value, and it should be accessible throughout the tree(s).

The original intention wasn't to guess, but I see how PMS is more for
things that are determined at run-time by the package manager rather
than static variables.


> As OP mentioned, at worst it does nothing until it 'spreads'
> throughout the tree. The end result is anyone could fork us, change
> DISTRO and DISTRO_BUG_URL, and instantly have a starting point for
> their new distro. I'm not aware of any other distro that would make
> forking or spinning off _this_ easy. That could turn into renewed
> interest in Gentoo or possibly even better inter-distro relations,
> since bugs would be going to the correct places.

That is one of the main goals of the proposal.  I feel that Gentoo is
missing out on major contributions because it's so difficult for
people in other distros to provide the patches they write.  Making
spins easier is a definite bonus, and results in more contributions.


> To OP: This idea looks good to me; do you have any proofs of
> concept for use in common places like ebuilds, metadata.xml (if you
> intend for it to be used there), etc? If we had a more visual idea
> of how it worked, maybe more people would understand and have an
> idea of where to put it if it doesn't fit in with PMS's scope.

I have some basic stuff that showed this idea was feasible before I
sent it on, but I don't have anything public yet.  I can start with a
branch (as mentioned in thread) and go from there.

Best,
- --arw

- -- 
A. Wilcox (awilfox)
Project Lead, Adélie Linux
http://adelielinux.org
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