[maemo-developers] PR1.2 SDK for Extras-devel: how to solve?

[From: Niels Breet]

On Wed, April 7, 2010 16:41, Andrew Flegg wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 15:13, Bryan Jacobs <no at landwarsin.asia> wrote:
>
>>
>> It seems to me that the real problem is actually the difficulty in
>> implementing #4 above.  If there were magically separate infrastructure
>> for each incompatible release, there would be no issue - a developer
>> uploads their package to each repository for which it builds (preferably
>> through a list of checkboxes in the web interface), and a user selects
>> one or more package sources that match the preinstalled software on
>> their device.  No problems, mate.
>
> True; however what about the QA process? The UI at
> http://maemo.org/packages/ is getting better, but it's also getting
> more familiar. How do we:
>
> a) not confuse ad-hoc testers b) ensure that versions in all repos get
> tested?
>

This is a non-trivial issue. Testing against all repos is not going to
work, imagine what happens when we have PR1.2+1 etc.

> One suggestion would be to promote all versions simultaneously, but
> there are obvious drawbacks with that!
>
That would make the most recent repo the best supported and tested repo.
Older repos might or might not work. But then again, that is what -devel
is now too.

>> So the real issue is that creating a new branch requires a nontrivial
>> amount of work.  This is a computerized system; computers excel at
>> automation.  Why not spend the one-off time to allow for near-instant
>> creation of a new branch?  Once that's done, future releases will just
>> consist of "oh, I should create a new repository for this release.  Let
>>  me run that script again with a new name and then upload the new SDK
>> release to it".
>
> Indeed.
>
>
>> Have I missed some important consideration?
>>
>
> I think the issues aren't technical (although streamlining the repo
> creation is obviously part of it), but more procedural. I could be wrong.

There is also the technical issue that after SSU you would need to change
your catalog settings in your device manually for -devel and -testing.

Getting that changed in AM is probably not going to happen.

>
> Cheers,
>
>
> Andrew
>
>
> --
> Andrew Flegg -- mailto:andrew at bleb.org  |  http://www.bleb.org/
> Maemo Community Council chair

--
Niels Breet
maemo.org webmaster