[gentoo-dev-announce] RFC: Feature wish list (catalyst/genkernel)

[Chris Gianelloni]

I'm sending this along to gentoo-dev-announce so that everybody can see
it.

I'm trying to get together a list of features for development for
catalyst and genkernel.  I have a nice laundry list of things that I
plan on implementing/changing, but what about you?  We're making both of
them more modular, so it will be easier for people to extend their
functionality.  By doing this, catalyst/genkernel users don't have to
wait until the next release to get support for new devices/etc.  I,
also, hope to try to move out some of the supporting files for specific
support (like lvm, dmraid, etc.) into their own modules.  I'm hoping
that they get picked up by *at least* the Gentoo package maintainers.
As such, we're going to need a stable API for people to hook their
scripts into that won't break with every new version.

The idea is to make it much easier to test new features, since the code
will be isolated and modular.  We recognize that getting new features
into genkernel (especially) and catalyst has been difficult, at times,
especially during Gentoo release cycles, when several releases could be
made a day for both genkernel and catalyst.  This email is to try to
gather responses from the community on what they'd like to see added to
these products.  So, without further ado, on to my questions for you!

- What do you use catalyst/genkernel for?
- How long have you been using these packages?
- Have you been impressed with the improvements being made?
- Have you been pleased with the direction these projects have taken?
- What can be done to improve them?
- What one feature would you die to see implemented?

Here is the current "TODO" for catalyst:
- Remove spec_prefix from all exported variables
  - this allows for both global and scope-specific checks
- sign release materials (if configured)
- documentation: reference, howto, and guides
- create logs as necessary
- send emails if configured
- add multiple target support for a single spec
- separate out options that control catalyst versus the package manager
- add a new livecd/type for livedvd
  - make livedvd type perform several actions automatically
    - auto-fetch distfiles
    - automatically pull stages
- check that distcc_hosts is set before enabling distcc
- allow setting of distcc_hosts in catalyst.conf - override with specs
- check/save host ccache settings and ensure we don't overwrite them
- perform user management via a loop in livecd-stage2
- merge livecd-stage1/livecd-stage2
- improve autoresume support
- improve kerncache support
- add portage jobs support
  - --jobs
  - --keep-going
  - --load-average
- perform GCC version detection in seed stages to get supported settings
- build bootloaders on-demand, rather than using pre-built tarballs
- add pre-submitted patches for new features/bugs

...and genkernel:
- Need configs for other currently-unsupported arches
- Make configs stackable (defaults -> arch -> conf -> cli)
- Move modules_load to /etc/genkernel (stackable)
- Move main config to /etc/genkernel
- Update documentation
- Refactor code to be more simple and modular
- Fix all TODO sections in the code
- Add all options to genkernel.conf
- Add "include" options to genkernel.conf to allow for genkernel.d
- Allow for arch-specific or module-specific files to override defaults
- Create hooks in the build/install phases for modules
- Add pre-submitted patches for new features/bugs

So tell me, what would you like to see added to genkernel/catalyst?

Thanks,

-- 
Chris Gianelloni