en/glep/glep-0019.txt

GLEP: 19
Title: Gentoo Stable Portage Tree 
Version: $Revision: 1.7 $
Last-Modified: $Date: 2004/12/08 00:24:23 $
Author: Kurt Lieber <klieber@gentoo.org> 
Status: Withdrawn
Type: Standards Track
Content-Type: text/x-rst
Created: 26-Jan-2004
Post-History: 29-Jan-2004 2-Nov-2004 7-Dec-2004 10-Oct-2006

Status
======

Withdrawn by the author.  "If someone wants to take up the torch, more
power to them, but they should probably start clean with a new glep."

Abstract
========

This GLEP is intended to propose a series of changes to the Portage tree that
are necessary to facilitate the use of Gentoo in areas where stability and
predictability are of paramount importance, including servers in enterprise
environments, mission critical workstations and other such installations.

The proposed solution involves creating a separate tree in Portage that is
updated far less often than the regular tree.  Outside of periodic updates,
this tree would only be updated with critical bugfixes and security patches.

Status
======

Currently recruiting people who would be willing to help with this GLEP.

Motivation
==========

Enterprise users typically value stability and a predictable upgrade path
over having the latest packages or features available to them.  Historically,
Gentoo Linux has been unable to provide such an environment due to the dynamic
nature of the Portage tree.

Specification
=============

The Gentoo Infrastructure team will need to provide an additional Portage tree
on our rsync mirroring system.  This new tree will house the ebuilds
associated with the stable tree.  It also impacts all Gentoo developers
responsible for creating and updating ebuilds as they will be expected to
integrate the tagging of ebuilds for the stable tree into their normal
development process, both for the quarterly release cycles as well as
off-cycle bug and security fixes.

The Gentoo Documentation team will also be affected as they will be
responsible for updating installation documents to take these new features
into account.

Rationale
=========

A basic outline of various ways of adding a "stable" tree to Portage was
discussed in the gentoo managers meeting on 26-Jan-04.  Consensus seemed to be
reached that such a solution was needed and that branching the gentoo-x86
repository was the appropriate way to accomplish this.  The largest area of
disagreement surrounded how specific ebuilds should be targeted for inclusion
in the stable tree.

One suggested solution was a simple branch of the CVS tree and having
developers work in two separate branches; one for the stable tree and
another for the traditional tree.  However, it was felt this would prove too
cumbersome in practice.

Another suggestion was to have a small group of dedicated gentoo-server
developers responsible for generating the contents of the stable tree, which
would provide more control and quality assurance over the ebuilds added to the
stable tree.  While this might prove effective for a small number of ebuilds,
it is quite likely that this model would not scale enough to allow for a large
number of ebuilds in the stable tree and, over time, the project would become
resource constrained and unable to meed future deadlines.  

While the original draft of this GLEP called for the creation of a stable
keyword, we have since discarded that idea in favor of creating a custom
profile, which will be used to track a subset of packages and versions.

Implementation
==============

This GLEP will create a new set of cascaded profiles (one per release, not to
exceed two per year) which will contain a subset of packages, including
versions.  This profile will "pin" a Gentoo Linux box to a specific set of
packages and will only be updated for security updates and, in rare
circumstances, major bug fixes.

Because this profile will be cascaded, the option exists for other developers
to create their own profile, containing a subset of packages not found in the
"main" stable tree and include those as part of the overall stable profile.
These cases will be treated on a one-off basis.

The initial version will be x86 only, though other people will be encouraged
to provide separate stable profiles for other arches.  It is expected that any
effort to provide a stable tree for any arch or flavor of Gentoo will follow
the basic outline of this GLEP to ensure consistency for our users.

In addition to a custom profile, this GLEP will also create a separate rsync
repository, "gentoo-stable-portage", which will be available on all servers in
the rsync.gentoo.org rotation.  This repository will be *identical* to the
main gentoo-portage repository except that the --delete flag will be removed
from the rsync option that populates the tree.  This will ensure that users of
the stable profile will not have to worry about ebuilds for their packages
disappearing.

Stable profiles will be maintained on an N - 2 basis.  That is to say that we
will maintain a stable profile for the most current release, plus the previous
two releases.  With the expected release schedule for 2005, this will result
in each profile being supported for approximately 18 months.  Future versions
of the stable portage tree may seek to increase the life of these profiles.

Backwards Compatibility
=======================

All features proposed here are new additions to existing processes and
features.  There should be no impact on existing features and functionality.


Copyright
=========

This document is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share
Alike license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0)
1	GLEP: 19
2	Title: Gentoo Stable Portage Tree
3	Version: $Revision: 1.7 $
4	Last-Modified: $Date: 2004/12/08 00:24:23 $
5	Author: Kurt Lieber <klieber@gentoo.org>
6	Status: Withdrawn
7	Type: Standards Track
8	Content-Type: text/x-rst
9	Created: 26-Jan-2004
10	Post-History: 29-Jan-2004 2-Nov-2004 7-Dec-2004 10-Oct-2006
11
12	Status
13	======
14
15	Withdrawn by the author. "If someone wants to take up the torch, more
16	power to them, but they should probably start clean with a new glep."
17
18	Abstract
19	========
20
21	This GLEP is intended to propose a series of changes to the Portage tree that
22	are necessary to facilitate the use of Gentoo in areas where stability and
23	predictability are of paramount importance, including servers in enterprise
24	environments, mission critical workstations and other such installations.
25
26	The proposed solution involves creating a separate tree in Portage that is
27	updated far less often than the regular tree. Outside of periodic updates,
28	this tree would only be updated with critical bugfixes and security patches.
29
30	Status
31	======
32
33	Currently recruiting people who would be willing to help with this GLEP.
34
35	Motivation
36	==========
37
38	Enterprise users typically value stability and a predictable upgrade path
39	over having the latest packages or features available to them. Historically,
40	Gentoo Linux has been unable to provide such an environment due to the dynamic
41	nature of the Portage tree.
42
43	Specification
44	=============
45
46	The Gentoo Infrastructure team will need to provide an additional Portage tree
47	on our rsync mirroring system. This new tree will house the ebuilds
48	associated with the stable tree. It also impacts all Gentoo developers
49	responsible for creating and updating ebuilds as they will be expected to
50	integrate the tagging of ebuilds for the stable tree into their normal
51	development process, both for the quarterly release cycles as well as
52	off-cycle bug and security fixes.
53
54	The Gentoo Documentation team will also be affected as they will be
55	responsible for updating installation documents to take these new features
56	into account.
57
58	Rationale
59	=========
60
61	A basic outline of various ways of adding a "stable" tree to Portage was
62	discussed in the gentoo managers meeting on 26-Jan-04. Consensus seemed to be
63	reached that such a solution was needed and that branching the gentoo-x86
64	repository was the appropriate way to accomplish this. The largest area of
65	disagreement surrounded how specific ebuilds should be targeted for inclusion
66	in the stable tree.
67
68	One suggested solution was a simple branch of the CVS tree and having
69	developers work in two separate branches; one for the stable tree and
70	another for the traditional tree. However, it was felt this would prove too
71	cumbersome in practice.
72
73	Another suggestion was to have a small group of dedicated gentoo-server
74	developers responsible for generating the contents of the stable tree, which
75	would provide more control and quality assurance over the ebuilds added to the
76	stable tree. While this might prove effective for a small number of ebuilds,
77	it is quite likely that this model would not scale enough to allow for a large
78	number of ebuilds in the stable tree and, over time, the project would become
79	resource constrained and unable to meed future deadlines.
80
81	While the original draft of this GLEP called for the creation of a stable
82	keyword, we have since discarded that idea in favor of creating a custom
83	profile, which will be used to track a subset of packages and versions.
84
85	Implementation
86	==============
87
88	This GLEP will create a new set of cascaded profiles (one per release, not to
89	exceed two per year) which will contain a subset of packages, including
90	versions. This profile will "pin" a Gentoo Linux box to a specific set of
91	packages and will only be updated for security updates and, in rare
92	circumstances, major bug fixes.
93
94	Because this profile will be cascaded, the option exists for other developers
95	to create their own profile, containing a subset of packages not found in the
96	"main" stable tree and include those as part of the overall stable profile.
97	These cases will be treated on a one-off basis.
98
99	The initial version will be x86 only, though other people will be encouraged
100	to provide separate stable profiles for other arches. It is expected that any
101	effort to provide a stable tree for any arch or flavor of Gentoo will follow
102	the basic outline of this GLEP to ensure consistency for our users.
103
104	In addition to a custom profile, this GLEP will also create a separate rsync
105	repository, "gentoo-stable-portage", which will be available on all servers in
106	the rsync.gentoo.org rotation. This repository will be identical to the
107	main gentoo-portage repository except that the --delete flag will be removed
108	from the rsync option that populates the tree. This will ensure that users of
109	the stable profile will not have to worry about ebuilds for their packages
110	disappearing.
111
112	Stable profiles will be maintained on an N - 2 basis. That is to say that we
113	will maintain a stable profile for the most current release, plus the previous
114	two releases. With the expected release schedule for 2005, this will result
115	in each profile being supported for approximately 18 months. Future versions
116	of the stable portage tree may seek to increase the life of these profiles.
117
118	Backwards Compatibility
119	=======================
120
121	All features proposed here are new additions to existing processes and
122	features. There should be no impact on existing features and functionality.
123
124
125	Copyright
126	=========
127
128	This document is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share
129	Alike license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0)