From owner-freebsd-ports@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jan 12 16:11:08 2015 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id C3601A51 for ; Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:11:08 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-ob0-x229.google.com (mail-ob0-x229.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4003:c01::229]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "Google Internet Authority G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 81BEEFD9 for ; Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:11:08 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-ob0-f169.google.com with SMTP id vb8so22905626obc.0 for ; Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:11:07 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:sender:in-reply-to:references:from:date:message-id :subject:to:cc:content-type; bh=NrqotMJiFGX1kcJKgzcjeHlvnteUEeUGJZC/TnwL+xM=; b=d6abo10JZVhFAHz1PPsv2qdA1WY7ktEu1hKbxpHT9oE5UMv4FfY/Pquc/rhKTNuNMA 5bBoeiGVxKQQNWaMWdTLM2H1wVk3/OqkOPERRiBJGE7/CY0Ld/tFPb3QMQTcL4/RuC1v IT8L7dfLUWqGskSVrbsCS/4kxv714o8l6R6Zxkv40oUPQpNq7oR0GzPDxygOAVnSmy+z psgGbqHb/KiCIK4uKrWDw8j3RcDzzWCS+s3NNWgGm6eVkltkqlYkqO3AXQ5T2QUw3On0 5CRokBdCpuAfRM92zxb++dHihDHlIfAocg2XlrLA5Nrkk/RP15wrKxfZakNo1vWl5WXD 6amw== X-Received: by 10.182.125.72 with SMTP id mo8mr17963236obb.61.1421079067476; Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:11:07 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Sender: royce.williams@gmail.com Received: by 10.202.89.132 with HTTP; Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:10:46 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: <20150112130804.GD44537@home.opsec.eu> References: <20150111235449.A14AEF52@hub.freebsd.org> <20150112040129.GA16097@lonesome.com> <20150112122652.GA9472@lonesome.com> <54B3BE2C.6030207@sorbs.net> <20150112123241.GB9472@lonesome.com> <54B3C28C.10605@sorbs.net> <20150112130804.GD44537@home.opsec.eu> From: Royce Williams Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 07:10:46 -0900 X-Google-Sender-Auth: 8ByxQQSJA348PbIQX74Les9GEoE Message-ID: Subject: Re: BIND REPLACE_BASE option To: ports Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Cc: Deb Goodkin X-BeenThere: freebsd-ports@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: Porting software to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 16:11:08 -0000 On Mon, Jan 12, 2015 at 4:08 AM, Kurt Jaeger wrote: >> No disputing that, just thinking, is FreeBSD being driven by user need, >> financial contributer need, developer need, security need, making things >> 'better' or just by people wanting to make their mark in a warped sense >> of "it'll all get better"...? > > Probably by developer *capacity* (not need) and fire-fighting, > like most IT stuff 8-( But like most IT stuff, resources are being asymmetrically applied to the root causes of the fires. Read the list of projects from last quarter: - Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) - amd64 Xen Paravirtualization - bhyve - Chelsio iSCSI Offload Support - Debian GNU/kFreeBSD - FreeBSD Preseed Installation (PXE) - Jenkins Continuous Integration for FreeBSD - New Automounter - QEMU bsd-user-Enabled Ports Building - VMWare VAAI and Microsoft ODX Acceleration in CTL - ZFSguru - Intel GPU Driver Update - SDIO Driver - UEFI Boot - Updated vt(4) System Console - Updating OpenCrypto - FreeBSD on Newer ARM Boards - FreeBSD/arm64 - LLDB Debugger Port - LLVM Address Sanitizer (Asan) - SSE Variants of libc Routines for amd64 - FreeBSD Python Ports - GNOME/FreeBSD - KDE on FreeBSD - The Graphics Stack on FreeBSD - Xfce The Foundation section also lists these items not overlapping with the above: - FreeBSD Journal - PostgreSQL performance improvements - Ongoing release process - Development snapshots - VM images for releases - Secure Boot planning - Infrastructure hardware - Java licensing - Summits and summit sponsorship - Travel grants, tutorials, and talks - New Design and Implementation book - Recruitment flyers Are there long-term improvement projects that aren't being listed? If so, they should be. At face value, the main project list is heavily weighted towards relatively esoteric OS features. The Foundation list is heavily weighted towards advocacy and communication (as it should be). What is missing are high-level projects to help sysadmins maintain and use FreeBSD on an ongoing basis. Here are some projects that would help to close the sysadmin gap: - Automatic error reporting and analysis - OS and port debugging tools for sysadmins - Independent project-wide usability analysis - Ports dependency isolation and reduction framework - Ports system reliability parity with Linuxes - Searchable, taggable project FAQ - Searchable hardware support matrix integrated with bug tracker - Wiki curation and platform improvements These projects decentralize and improve support for sysadmins and new adopters. As a business case for the Foundation, these projects should also deeply free up developer resources to focus on other major projects. In the past, when I have pointed out this "sysadmin gap", I receive one of two answers: 1. Sounds great. Let us know when you have it finished. 2. We're too busy to do any of those things. ... to which I answer: 1. These projects require technical skill and political capital within the project. They are ideally suited for well-established independent FreeBSD consultants with large blocks of time sponsored by the FreeBSD Foundation. I can help (especially with the wiki work), but cannot tackle these deeper problems in the way that others can. 2. The reason you're busy is that you don't have these things. I applaud recent work on Jenkins and cluster infrastructure. I also appreciate Colin Percivals's automated error reporting work, because it directly attacks the sysadmin gap. And I know that getting releases out the door is time-consuming and keeps the lights on. But the overall project list needed to be rebalanced towards system administration. I request that the Foundation consider this when calling for proposals for the next round of funded projects. Royce