X server issues and ports

[kraileth]

"My" idea was to provide a basic repository, that's why I requested users feedback about that, plus some amount of packages ... say a total of 10.000 pkgs, and no FreeBSD repository.

People wanting additional software should have to ask on forum or issue tracker, and we will include it.

EDIT: mixing two repository would be an error, just like mixing port and packages.

I can live with either decision, I just wanted a clear statement on that. So we're going the "pure" way here? Ok. However we should at least document on the wiki how the FreeBSD repo can be added and probably add a warning that this is unsupported and missing software should be requested here instead.

It is a matter of priorities, it is about what we think is more or less important, and clearly we disagree about something ... guess it is normal.

Sure thing! And the ability to deal with that is what makes a good team, I guess. In the Open Source world there are way to many projects with one very bright head who simply cannot deal with others having their own views on things. We definitely don't want that...

I agree with you ASX on

not mixing FreeBSD and GhostBSD repository.

I did that on time and it is a mess.
It is better to start with a small repository the a big one I agree to that too.

Alright, so that's decided. Good.

Can it be done in 30 days?

The new repo ? probably yes, what I'm unsure about is listed below:

- build time at 250 pkgs x hour, will require 40 hours to build 10.000 packages
- additional 40 hours for i386 arch

a) network manager is already in fbsd ports (thanks)
b) the other softwares (update-station, ....) need to be included in ports (our ports-tree) and built together the other packages, not sure how much time it will be required: you could esitmated it better I think.
c) there is the need to add the repo to the webserver, guess one day will be enough.
d) some config file need to be tweaked to make use of our repo
e) ghostbsd-build need to be modified to fetch packages from our repo.

Guess that is all is required.

Hm! What does the current pkg list look like? Are we anywhere 10.000 right now or is this what you estimate we'll reach when users start requesting more software?

[ericbsd]

If the release delayed for a moth or 2 I have no problem with it.

b) the other softwares (update-station, ....) need to be included in ports (our ports-tree) and built together the other packages, not sure how much time it will be required: you could esitmated it better I think.

Merging GhostBSD ports with FreeBSD ports is not a problem I already did try and there is no problem there.

d) some config file need to be tweaked to make use of our repo
e) ghostbsd-build need to be modified to fetch packages from our repo.

This i not a problem that is easy to fix once the repository is done.
c) there is the need to add the repo to the webserver, guess one day will be enough.
I wonder if we are better to keep that in a separate jail on the server probably.

Now we need to find a good server for that.

[ericbsd]

We need to build a list of the essential package, for both XFCE and MATE first. Oh and even if it only 5000 pkg to start it is good enough for a start.

[ASX]

To clarify a bit of details:

actually xfce and mate are using approx 1.000 pkgs each one (most are common of course), out of 1.000 packages, 100 are real user applications, 900 are dependencies packages.

My estimation about 10.000 come approximately from:

- the above base 1.000 packages
- the 100 package requested from user so far (+ 900 dependencies)
- we need to include as much hw support as possible (nvidia drivers, xorg drivers, etc ... + dependencies), say 2.000
- some software we think will be useful or requested say 200 pkgs + 1800 dependencies

~~~

Considering ericbsd's feedback I could say we can be ready in two weeks.

~~~

A separate build server will be useful, but is not strictly required, the initial plan is to base the ports from a quarterly branch and update weekly.

I suspect the updates will need to rebuild approx. a 30% of the total pkgs every week, probably less.

[ASX]

if you want to go with a separate build server, than we can drop the idea of a limited repo altogether and build everything:

dragonfly use a two blade server and was able to build the whole repo in 22 hours, I guess we can easily reach a speed of 500 pkgs per hour .

[kraileth]

At least for now we could well use the Euro server that I created for the project and that we're not really using, yet. It could e.g. create the i386 packages. Right now it has 4 virtual cores, I think.

And if the location doesn't matter (i.e. it doesn't have to be Canada), I can also ask if we could get a good price for a more powerful build server. I know that we have at least one spare blade center right now but I think it might be a good idea to repurpose a machine that has only been used by a customer for a short amount of time (we could probably get a good deal in this case). If we were paying customers, the server would be included in the regular monitoring and in case any service breaks, our company at least knows how to deal with FreeBSD (even though I admit that few colleagues are actually really intimate with it).

The big pro of such a solution would definitely be that I'd have physical access to the server in the datacenter and thus can correct things if anything should ever break. The true "classic", being locking yourself out while trying to get the firewall rules right, and things like that which will most likely happen at some point. But that's just a suggestion.

[ASX]

At least for now we could well use the Euro server that I created for the project and that we're not really using, yet. It could e.g. create the i386 packages. Right now it has 4 virtual cores, I think.

How much RAM has this server ?
Is it accessible right now ?

[kraileth]

At least for now we could well use the Euro server that I created for the project and that we're not really using, yet. It could e.g. create the i386 packages. Right now it has 4 virtual cores, I think.

How much RAM has this server ?
Is it accessible right now ?

It currently has 8 Gigs of RAM and yes, it's running. I can add your SSH key anytime and give you the IP (now the final one).

[ASX]

It currently has 8 Gigs of RAM and yes, it's running. I can add your SSH key anytime and give you the IP (now the final one).

We will make use of it as a mirror, building packages require more resources really:

libreoffice require approx 5 GB of RAM
chromium require 8 GB (but then you need ram for the OS too).
For increased performance an SSD is also highly suggested.

* EDIT: you can build with less RAM too, but build time will increase a lot ... *

Other than that, I would prefer to keep the port source tree in a unique place and not duplicated on two different builders.

[kraileth]

We will make use of it as a mirror, building packages require more resources really:

libreoffice require approx 5 GB of RAM
chromium require 8 GB (but then you need ram for the OS too).
For increased performance an SSD is also highly suggested.

Other than that, I would prefer to keep the port source tree in a unique place and not duplicated on two different builders.

Makes sense.