1 |
On Sunday 12 July 2009, Fabian Groffen wrote: |
2 |
> since I assume you can't reliably use the checked out version of the |
3 |
> overlay (by e.g. layman), can you try to retrieve the repo_name file |
4 |
> from the overlay? Probably a lot of efforts. So alternative, what |
5 |
> if we extend the layman-global.txt (which is xml in reality...) file |
6 |
> with an extra property per overlay which holds the contents of it's |
7 |
> repo_name? Would be optimal, since you're fetching this file anyway |
8 |
> to check it. Alternative is to use another file somewhere on the |
9 |
> interweb that you keep up to date automatically, by having all |
10 |
> overlays checked out and recording their repo_name ... |
11 |
|
12 |
I think it should be a requirement that repo_name == layman name for an |
13 |
overlay to be added to layman. If that file changes later, we should |
14 |
see a warning *somewhere*. It is a perfect opportunity to revisit the |
15 |
overlays+metadata cache idea presented by patrick a while ago (and do |
16 |
other overdue changes!). |
17 |
|
18 |
Since writing down stuff into an IDEAS file in my $HOME does not get |
19 |
anything implemented, and I'm still looking for a way to have a |
20 |
wiki-like lightweight GLEP (which I prefer for collecting ideas), |
21 |
here's what I have so far: |
22 |
|
23 |
Background: |
24 |
Overlays are useful, fast-moving playground for inclusion of new ebuilds |
25 |
and distributed community effort. layman-global.txt is the central list |
26 |
of overlays |
27 |
|
28 |
Issues: |
29 |
|
30 |
1. In layman-global.txt: |
31 |
1. has no DTD/xml validation schema |
32 |
2. overlays have only a contact address, no real name |
33 |
3. overlay name in xml file might not be overlay's repo_name |
34 |
4. Exactly one overlay URL, no mirrors possible |
35 |
2. overlays.g.o website: |
36 |
1. Feed is out of date |
37 |
2. Only lists dev and proj overlays, not third-party |
38 |
3. Has no overlay content index |
39 |
4. Has no overlay search |
40 |
3. Overlays do not have metadata |
41 |
4. Overlays are not natively supported by package manager, but |
42 |
through an external app and a 'source' in make.conf |
43 |
|
44 |
Ideas: |
45 |
|
46 |
1. Revamp layman-global.txt, keep it as authority file: |
47 |
1. Move file to overlays.xml (but keep a compatibility copy) |
48 |
2. Create XML DTD/schema to make it validatable |
49 |
3. Change 'official' attribute to differentiate |
50 |
between 'dev', 'proj' and '3rdparty/unofficial' |
51 |
4. Add value for overlay RSS feed if available |
52 |
5. Add real name for owner |
53 |
6. Have multiple overlay URIs with checkout priorities |
54 |
2. Write script to generate planet config from overlays.xml |
55 |
3. Have copies of the overlays on official gentoo.org infra, generate |
56 |
metadata for them and export them via rsync (the bonsaikitten |
57 |
proposal at |
58 |
http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.gentoo.devel/62025/ ) |
59 |
4. Validate repo_name vs. XML file (needs 3.) |
60 |
5. Move search and browse features to overlays.g.o website, see: |
61 |
1. http://git.exherbo.org/summer/ |
62 |
2. http://gpo.zugaina.org/ |
63 |
3. http://gentoo-overlays.zugaina.org/ |
64 |
6. Extend layman to use one of many overlay URIs or allow user select |
65 |
|
66 |
|
67 |
Robert |