Shrinking/splitting up core Was: Why are there only i686 and i586 Version of glibc...

[Willem Riede]

On 2004.06.06 15:05, Tom Diehl wrote:
> On Sun, 6 Jun 2004, Crutcher Dunnavant wrote:
> 
> > I think that perhaps, "Core" and "Extras" is insufficiently fine
> > grained. There is value in a truly small distro, one small enough
> > that, while it contains everything needed to run itself, it does not
> > contain the tools needed to build itself. Think PVRs, Routers,
> > MyRoboticDog, etc.
> > 
> > Since these packages are to be built in a common space, it's really
> > just an issue of which repository the RPMS get dropped into after they
> > are built. I'd rather see something like, in staggered order of
> > dependancy:
> > 
> > Core - (no, really, CORE. No X, no gcc, just the hard base.)
> > Desktop
> > Development
> > Multimedia
> > Extras
> 
> I really like this idea, but wouldn't it be a maintenance nightmare?
> 
> What I am thinking about specifically is how do you handle the stuff that
> fits into more than 1 category? Is that automatically part of core?
> Do you suggest that anaconda only know how to install core and everything
> else is done post install? I am sure there are other cases to be thought
> about. Wouldn't all of the categories need to be tested together to ensure
> compatibility? This subject comes up again and again but seems to be about
> as far as it goes. Then again once the Red Hat/Fedora infrastructure to
> allow external contribution's is finally up and running things might
> progress.

How would that work with respect to upgrades? Haven't we had cases where glibc
needed to be upgraded and that change affected virtually all applications?
With a monolithic distribution that is pretty painless, compatible versions
are available and replace their ancestors.

I would hate a slimmed down Core to cause me pain in that respect in the future.
Having to worry about such compatability myself would be a step backwards.

Oh, and by the way, personally I couldn't care less how big the distribution 
grows. 10 CDs? No problem. 5 DVDs? Fine too.

Regards, Willem Riede.