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Date:      Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:22:35 -0600
From:      "Jeremy Messenger" <mezz7@cox.net>
To:        youshi10@u.washington.edu
Cc:        freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org, freebsd-ports@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: portupgrade O(n^m)?
Message-ID:  <op.tns6zxer9aq2h7@mezz.mezzweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.43.0702151017001.16360@hymn07.u.washington.edu>
References:  <Pine.LNX.4.43.0702151017001.16360@hymn07.u.washington.edu>

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On Thu, 15 Feb 2007 12:17:00 -0600, <youshi10@u.washington.edu> wrote:

<snip>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> Pros:
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> -It's written in python (portable).

Isn't our more portable for hardware than Python? Also, it is smaller?

> -It's a system which focuses on ports compilation from source, not  =

> binary package installation.

This is very cons. The ports can do both, so it is more flexible and is =
 =

pros than this. In our ports tree, you can even choice to create your ow=
n  =

packages, install your own packages that was built by you, use FreeBSD  =

packages or compile by via ports tree.

> -Stores information in a db format (not Berkeley DB, but something  =

> different)for entire system in a common file; stores installed leaf  =

> package information in another simple textfile.
> -Has flags for stability reasons, since some packages are alpha or bet=
a  =

> and don't compile under certain architectures.

No thanks, I am against this. I have seen the messy over at Gentoo's  =

forums for you can't do the mix very well. Our ports have the better  =

stability than their for in both stable and bleeding edge at the same  =

time. I have used Gentoo before very long time ago and it is too often t=
o  =

break stuff, I personal prefer Slackware or Ubuntu over Gentoo and porta=
ge  =

anytime for Linux.

> -Portage files are fetched via rsync.

What is speical about it if you put rsync as in Cons? Why replace it whe=
n  =

CVSup works fine?

http://www.gentoo.org/news/en/gwn/20021223-newsletter.xml#doc_chap2_sect=
4

I do realize that it's 2002.

> -Has separate portage files which are phased out over time, in case th=
e  =

> portage maintainers move the files in one release. The maintainers the=
n  =

> create an informative message which describes what's going on while  =

> emerging the package or going through the portage database. If possibl=
e  =

> the outdated package is pruned and the newer, more recent dependency i=
s  =

> merged.

I don't think I like this. Same comments for this in the first top.

> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> Cons:
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> -It's written in python (not fast).

And it is not in base system. It requires Python to be install in the  =

different way when our package system is based on Python. And Python  =

breaks script more often than what we have in base system.

> -Uses rsync.

Why put rsync in Pros too? :-)

> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> Point:
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
<snip>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> In light of previous statement:
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
>
> I wasn't trying to port the pkg_* and port* utils to C++ thinking that=
 I  =

> would magically get more optimized code. Sure, C++ is much better than=
  =

> ruby at optimizations if done correctly, but C++ is also easier to scr=
ew  =

> up than ruby or perl or python, because you have the power to shoot  =

> yourself in the foot easier (not as much as C or ASM, but close).
>
> The point was that with C++ we could finally get a set of standardized=
  =

> tools and a common interface for FreeBSD for managing ports / packages=
  =

> which could be included in the base system, not a bunch of little  =

> specialized tools and packages.

If you can make C or C++ or whatever what we have in the base system too=
ls  =

better (is a must) than what we have now in ports tree, then I have no  =

problem with it. Go ahead write it, but do expect for that it will be ha=
rd  =

to get us to accept for our ports tree to change over to use new tools.

Cheers,
Mezz

> I'll have to approach this problem from a black box perspective and be=
  =

> carefully in planning this out, but my goal is to be as backwards  =

> compatible friendly as possible or at least provide migration tools to=
  =

> ease the move from the old system to the new one.
>
> Again, if anyone is interested in helping me out, it would be more tha=
n  =

> welcome. That way we could ensure that the project gets done in a time=
ly  =

> manner and can reduce bugs and think of better solutions (more people =
 =

> can help in thinking out of the box, the larger the group).
>
> Thanks,
> -Garrett
>
> PS Please reply on the @hackers list, if possible.


-- =

mezz7@cox.net  -  mezz@FreeBSD.org
FreeBSD GNOME Team  -  FreeBSD Multimedia Hat (ports, not src)
http://www.FreeBSD.org/gnome/  -  gnome@FreeBSD.org
http://wiki.freebsd.org/multimedia  -  multimedia@FreeBSD.org



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