[arch-dev-public] Getting to New Arch SCM Layout and Repo Management

[Paul Mattal]

All,

Arch needs to move forward. The question: how? Moving forward at
high speed is desirable, but we need first make sure we're not
pointed towards a cliff and that our safety cables are attached and
in good working order.

I am setting my sights on exactly one aspect of this problem: SCM
and repo management and getting us from where we are into the new
system we all want to have.

BACKGROUND
For the purists, there is a sentiment I would like to acknowledge,
because it's one that's been bugging me. I believe that the most
often overlooked and underrated "Arch Way" design choice was to
support i686 only. A single common denominator makes everything a
lot simpler-- we just solve one problem and we solve it very well.
Development resources are not spread thin and are highly focused on
the same end.

I am not the purist I once was. There's a vital and important
segment of the community that needs 64-bit support, we can't just
drop i686 support, and anyone has to acknowledge that i686 won't be
around forever. To survive in the long haul, Arch will need to
support more than just the i686 architecture.

With some weight then, knowing we're setting out *against* the Arch
Way, but along a trail that *must* be blazed, we consider the landscape.

GOAL
Using an open design and implementation process, we will implement a
new system for managing Arch repositories and PKGBUILD materials.

I will provide a box with Internet access for this project we can
use as our home. It will be completely separate from the main Arch
servers. If our system proves itself, it will be presented to the
main Arch development team as the new standard for repo management.

Main design choices I am making (to be amended as we go along):
1) The system will be able to manage an arbitrary number of
repositories for multiple architectures efficiently.

2) Use of the system will not require a shell account on the server.

3) Multiple instances of the system will be easily deployable on a
single server.

4) It will be trivially easy to create and destroy repositories, to
copy or move packages between repositories, or to place a package in
more than one repository.

5) It will be easy for developers with SCM access to efficiently
incorporate patches and input from community members.

6) The system will allow anyone with SCM access to register as a
maintainer for a package.

7) All functions of the system will be primarily accessible from a
simple commandline interface.

8) The system will be itself deployed as an Arch package and be easy
to set up.

9) The system will be sufficiently documented in a functional, if
not beautiful, fashion.

SCHEDULE
By May 15: Anyone with another SCM system or layout to suggest
should do so in the Arch-repos group. Your goal is to persuade Jason
your system is the best one. Discussion of all those systems will
then take place over the following two weeks.

By May 7: I will bring 7 key people on board to work on this
project. Drop me an email if you're interested in joining the team!
Initially, I know we will need:

SYSADMIN - An existing Arch developer who will manage the Linux box
I provide and the accounts for the SCM system. This person should
have at least a small amount of time each day to handle management
tasks related to the project.

PUBLICIST - I am committed to organizing this project, and will
continue to post status to the arch-dev-public list for all to see.
However, not everyone looks here. We need someone who will deliver
the news about this project and the status as it progresses to the
forums, the IRC channel, and the other mailing lists. This won't be
a time-consuming job, but will require someone who has knowledge and
facility with all the communications channels used in the Arch
community and who can focus on getting the word out.

DEVELOPERS - There will be some straight-up development work needed
to get us from the SCM system and layout to an actual management
system for repos. We may benefit from some work already done by
others (pacman3, AUR, main site repo management tools) but we will
need to do some original coding here. I will be somewhat involved in
the design and coding, but will choose three (3) people to help with
development. ANYONE is a potential candidate.. send me and email and
tell me why you'd make a good candidate. Focus on good ideas you
have for the system, languages you're comfortable in, how much of
Getting Things Done (GTD) you've implemented for yourself, and
amount of time you'll have to give to the project in June and July.

COMMUNITY MEMBERS - I will choose two (2) members of the community
who specifically are NOT developers or TUs (yet!) but who are
interested in helping maintain the packages in our new system. These
people will NOT be given SCM access, so as to help us evaluate how
easy it is for community members to contribute and for developers to
incorporate their contributions. Please contact me directly if
you're interested in this job. These two people will specifically be
identified as having the time to spend time helping us design our
system in May and test our system during the month of July.

On May 20: I will ask Jason to choose the best SCM system and layout
he's seen. If at that point it does not meet this project's goals,
we will minimally modify it to meet them.

May 20-31: The developers and I will figure out the number, kind,
and properties of the tools we will develop and divide up the work.
This is the real remaining design step.

JUNE: During June, the developers and I will build the system and
get it ready for initial deployment. The source will be open to for
anyone to observe and contribute, but we 4 will have commit access.

JULY: On July 1, we will launch the system and put some real
packages in it. At that time, we will need MAINTAINERS to join the
project.

We will deploy the system with REAL packages and REAL maintainers,
just a small number of them. Any developer or TU wishing to
participate will be allowed to contribute *AT MOST 4 PACKAGES OF
RELATIVELY SMALL SIZE* to the test system and they will begin to be
maintained in our system. It will be up to the individual developer
or TU to decide if they will propagate the PKGBUILD changes from our
system back into the official repos.

AUGUST: In August, we will evaluate how we have done. If all has
gone well, we will hand our system to the Arch development community
with a recommendation to enhance and deploy it for main site and AUR
repo management.

I hope you will all consider joining me for this potentially
exciting project! Let's get something done.

- P