Build system ideas/requirements

[seth vidal]

> Not sure what this would achieve ? In mach, these three "target" names
> mean the following:
> - minimal: a minimal set of packages that allows you to chroot into it
> and run bash
> - base: the same set of packages, but with all packages needed to make
> the rpm db consistent added
> - build: a bunch of additional packages that rpmbuild likes to have
> (patch, gcc, ...)
> 
> Not sure what (some magic link to comps.xml) would bring more.

but instead of having to discern the list w/no relationship information
from this:

# Fedora Core Development
packages['fedora-development-i386-core'] = {
    'dir':      'fedoracore-development-i386',
    'minimal':  'bash glibc yum python createrepo',
    'base':     'coreutils findutils openssh-server',
    'build':    'dev rpm-build make gcc tar gzip patch ' +
                'unzip bzip2 diffutils cpio elfutils',
}

we can use an xml format that various folks are already very familiar
with.


> > 2. I talked to Jeremy some about this and I think if we do all rpmdb
> > transactions from OUTSIDE of the rpmdb and only build in the chroot then
> > we should be able to safely juggle multiple rpmdb versions from host to
> > chroot systems.
> 
> Yep - that's how mach 2 has always done it after long discussions with
> jbj.  The alternative is to put specially compiled rpms in the root.

I'd also like to have no calls to the rpm cli binary in any buildroot
system. we should never be making the buildroot with --nodeps or --force
so I don't see a motive to use rpm for erasures or additions.



> > 3. there's no reason to not develop a specialized script that uses the
> > yum modules that can be run by something like mach-helper for making
> > chroots reasonably correctly.
> 
> What does "reasonably correctly" mean here ? I mean, is there anything
> wrong with the chroots that currently can be created with rpm --
> root/apt-get .../yum --installroot=... ?

okay so what do we get out of making the buildsystem capable of using
yum/apt-get/rpm--aid/whatever for doing the installs?

what's the perk? If we're building this for fedora why not just make a
script that imports the yum modules and works out of the available
infrastructure? Is there something that's needed in the yum modules to
make this work?

-sv