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The auto-reporting of successful builds isn't a bad idea, but here's one |
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problem, which I think might be a big one: just because something can |
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be built successfully doesn't mean it actually works as it should. For |
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example, in the last couple of days, I've successfully built fresh |
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copies of mozilla and fvwm, but neither have worked properly at all |
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(long story, but both problems appear to be the result of a problem with |
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gtk2 on ppc, which I normally have in my USE flags). |
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|
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So, if "~ppc" means "compiles, but we don't know if the binary works", |
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then your suggestion makes sense. On the other hand, if "~ppc" means |
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"seems to work for me, let's have others try it before it goes 'ppc'", |
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then anything that reports build results wouldn't be a good idea, since |
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buildable != usable. I know that "ppc" means "stable, should work", but |
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I don't know the exact criteria for something to achieve "~ppc". (How |
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does this work for other architectures? Does "~arch" depend only on |
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whether it works for an ebuild maintainer?) |
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|
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Two other thoughts: |
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|
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-- People's $CFLAGS can vary considerably; something that builds with |
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one set of $CFLAGS wouldn't necessarily build with another set. Good |
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examples of this are OpenOffice (pretty fussy about aggressive compiler |
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flags) and gtk+ on ppc (currently fails for me with gcc-3.2.3-r3 and |
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-mpowerpc-gfxopt, as does mozilla; others have reported similar problems |
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with firebird in Gentoo bugzilla). Chances are, this sort of thing |
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would have to be taken into account for "~ppc" or "ppc" designation. |
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|
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-- Such automated reporting would *definitely* have to be optional; some |
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people just don't want anyone else to know what their computer is |
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running, a sentiment that would have to be respected. |
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|
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As for how '~ppc' and 'ppc' get added to ebuilds currently, as far as I |
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know, posting successes to this list is the currently recommended way; |
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see http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic.php?t=11654 for details. Maybe |
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having a forum thread on which ppc successes could be posted would also |
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be a good idea -- somewhere ppc developers could lurk, and somewhere |
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people would, I think, more readily post than to this mailing list |
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(subscribing is a barrier to entry, though that might be desirable). |
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The thread could be cleaned out periodically, just like the thread where |
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duplicate threads can be reported. Whether that's a better idea than |
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using this list might depend on the developers' preferences. |
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|
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In spite of what I've said here, it's good to see the suggestion! Given |
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that "ppc" in keywords often does lag behind x86, we ought to be |
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thinking harder about how this might be addressed. |
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|
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Cheers, |
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Marc |
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|
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-- |
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Marc Ozon Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
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|
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|
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|
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--- Wes Morgan <wesm@×××××××××.org> [2003-12-02, 17:04]: |
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>I'm kind of a Gentoo n00b, though not a Linux n00b, so pardon any stupidity |
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>contained herein... ;-) |
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> |
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>Has anyone ever considered/implemented an automated build success report |
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>system? So that if I, for instance, successfully merged an ebuild w/ no ppc |
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>or ~ppc keyword, this utility could phone home and record my success. Then |
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>maybe that could automatically mark that package with a ~ppc keyword, then if |
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>enough success reports came in while it was marked ~ppc (and maybe it could |
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>be balanced against failure reports), it could automatically get marked ppc |
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>one day. |
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> |
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>The reason I ask this is that it seems that there are an awful lot of packages |
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>that don't have a ppc or ~ppc keyword, making Gentoo/PPC a lot less useful |
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>for the faint of heart (or the faint of butt) than Gentoo/x86. I was able to |
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>successfully merge koffice-1.3_rc1 on my TiBook 500, and I imagine there are |
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>plenty of other packages out there that would build successfully too, and |
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>probably have been built successfully, but not reported. I reported my |
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>success to this list, but received (as of yet) no response. It's only been a |
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>couple days, so that's not a complaint from me; I'm just trying to point out |
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>that an automated system would have already put a ~ppc keyword on this |
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>ebuild. :) |
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> |
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>Regardless of whether I have a good idea here or a terribly stupid one, I'd be |
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>really interested to learn more about the process of getting ppc and ~ppc |
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>keywords added to packages, and how I can best help increase the number of |
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>them. |
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> |
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>Thanks for a really cool distro, |
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>Wes Morgan |
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> |
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> |
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>-- |
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>gentoo-ppc-dev@g.o mailing list |
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|
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-- |
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gentoo-ppc-dev@g.o mailing list |