rpmforge and {enterprise, } Extras (Was Re: Initial Proposal for doing Enterprise Extras=

[Jonathan Underwood]

On 24/09/06, Thorsten Leemhuis <fedora at leemhuis.info> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> Reply out-of-order:
>
> Jonathan Underwood schrieb:
> > I realize that requirements of the new repository and build
> > system are very very different,
>
> Why? I can't follow you here. Building extras packages for RHEL/Centos
> for Fedora Extras probably is nothing more then:
>

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant that there are probably different needs
of the build infrastructure of rpmforge compared to that of FE and EE.
[Disclaimer: I am not familiar with the internals of either, so am
talking from an ignorant POV].

[snip]

> Regarding Dag and Dries and/or the rpmforge project in general: I (and I
> assume many other FESCo members and Extras contributors feel quite
> similar) would be really really happy if those two and other rpmforge
> contributors could participate in Extras.
>
> But how to make that work? That's the big question, and I don't have an
> answer.
>

Well, in the past, as I understand it, the goals of FE and rpmforge
have been very different, making a merge not really on the table.
Notably, as stated in the rpmforge FAQ, the difference between
rpmforge and FE is

"The biggest difference is that we provide packages for a range of
distributions including older Red Hat distributions, Red Hat
Enterprise Linux and others (eg. CentOS, Aurora) and different
architectures. If you expect to use both Fedora and Red Hat your
safest bet is RPMforge. Of course you can mix both, if you like."

The current move to build for centos, EL etc means that this
fundemental difference should disappear. Of course, rpmforge provides
many useful packages which couldn't move into FE/EE - it wasn't my
intention to suggest a merger. What is true though is that Dag, Dries
et al. have achieved an awful lot towards the same goals that the
proposed EE seems to have. Hence my suggestion that it seems a shame
not to approach these guys to say "We're hoping to expand FE to
include packages for other distros, and since you guys are the proven
leaaders in this field, we'd really value working with you to build up
the infrastructure, as we are sure your knowledge and experience are
valuable"


> Someone some weeks ago suggested to me in private that we should merge
> "Fedora Extras" and rpmforge. That sounds like a good plan to me in
> general. But a merge always must offer something to make both sides
> happy. And I'm not sure Fedora Extras can offer enough to make them
> happy (that's our fault, not theirs).

More cooporation generally will lead to more packaging work getting
done and removal of duplication where possible i.e. a bigger
community. I can't believe either "side" can't see such benefits.

> And there are also different goals
> in FE and rpmforge that will make a merge even more complicated -- I
> won't go into the details here about the different goals because those
> are dangerous grounds that can (and will) quickly lead to never-ending
> flamewars.

Other than licensing issues with some packages, i think the goals of
both projects seem to be converging. Or rather, FE/EE is moving to
having some similar goals to rpmforge. I don't think flamewars are
inevitable here. Perhaps my grasp of the situation is naive.

>
> Maybe someone neutral that's known and trusted on both sides could act
> as middle man between FE and rpmforge. That middle man could maybe help
> getting the goals and backgrounds of the different projects understood
> on the other side. Maybe that could lead to a better cooperation or even
> a merge in the long term. Any volunteers?
>

I don't consider myself known or trusted enough on both sides, but am
happy to do anything I can to help.

Jonathan.