[MacPorts] SummerOfCode modified

Mon Feb 16 06:52:08 PST 2009

Changed page "SummerOfCode" by raimue at macports.org from 91.11.206.190*
Page URL: <http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCode>
Diff URL: <http://trac.macports.org/wiki/SummerOfCode?action=diff&version=76>
Revision 76

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Index: SummerOfCode
=========================================================================

--- SummerOfCode (version: 75)
+++ SummerOfCode (version: 76)
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@
 
 === Core Tasks ===
 
-==== Task 1: Dependencies ====
+==== Dependencies ====
 
 This task consists of implementing a new dependencies engine for MacPorts. The current dependency engine properly deals with installing packages, but it does not deal satisfactorily with dependencies on variants (and versions), uninstalling and upgrading. This very challenging task requires a complete formalization of the use cases (installation, upgrade, uninstallation) and of the user needs before any implementation, as well as a deep understanding of the dependency relations (required for fetching, building, configuring; static and dynamic linking; dependence at runtime).
 
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 Programming languages: Tcl and C[[BR]]
 Potential mentors: jberry
 
-==== Task 2: Python Group ====
+==== Python Group ====
 
 Improve Python [source:trunk/base/src/port1.0/resources/group group] code.[[BR]]
 We currently have a lot of Python modules, which are built for Python 2.4. We now need a system to re-use port information about one python port to create Ports for Python 2.4 AND Python 2.5 (and also for the upcoming 2.6 and 3.0 release).
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
 Programming languages: Tcl[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: raimue
 
-==== Task 3: MacPorts Port ====
+==== MacPorts Port ====
 
 The MacPorts port should be the source for updating a user's MacPorts
 installation.
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@
 Programming languages: Tcl and C[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: rhwood, jmpp
 
-==== Task 4: Binaries ====
+==== Binaries ====
 
 MacPorts project does not provide binaries yet (installation of software without compiling them). This project consists in working in concert (or cooperatively) with whomever does (virtual chroot) to setup a mechanism to automatically build packages, send reports on failures and implement a distribution mechanisms to allow users to fetch binary packages. This task could extend to support universal binaries, cross-testing (building on an intel box and testing on a powerpc box) and extending the livecheck mechanism to automatically send reports when ports are updated.
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@
 Programming language: Tcl[[BR]]
 Potential mentors: wms, jmpp
 
-==== Task 5: Graphical user interface ====
+==== Graphical user interface ====
 
 Come up with a front-end for installing packages (or building ports, where no package exists) for naive end-users. See also [http://ihack.us/2008/03/24/building-a-gui-for-macports/ drernie's post] about MacPorts GUIs. 
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
 Programming languages: Tcl and any other language for the GUI part (e.g. ObjC)[[BR]]
 Potential mentors: drernie
 
-==== Task 6: Images (Pkgview, depot-to-depot dependencies) ====
+==== Images (Pkgview, depot-to-depot dependencies) ====
 
 MacPorts implements what we call the Image mode where software are stored in a depot (e.g. `/opt/local/var/db/dports/software/gawk/3.1.5_2/opt/local/bin/gawk`). For the moment, this functions like an archive and files are hardlinked to their active location (/opt/local/bin/gawk). If port A depends on dynamic library B.dylib from port B, it actually links to /opt/local/lib/B.dylib. The idea of this task is to figure out a way for port A to be linked to the library in the depot and to work even if port B is not active. That is to say that if port foo depends on version 1.2.3 of port bar, it should be compiled and linked in such a way that it's wired to the depot location of bar, not the "activated" location.  That will finally fix the fragility problem where deactivating port bar vers n-1 in order to install port bar vers n (because other things depend on n) won't also require breaking everything that relies on n-1. This mechanism also has additional advantages such as limiting the unavailability time to a minimum, especially when upgrading libraries every other package depends on (such as gettext).
 
@@ -102,15 +102,7 @@
 Programming language: Tcl[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: wms
 
-==== Task 7: Root privileges ====
-
-Implement facility to reduce need to execute macports as root, by adding facilities to mark ports as requiring root, by dropping root privileges where possible, and perhaps by keeping repository in per-user space.
-
-Classification: medium task[[BR]]
-Programming language: Tcl, C[[BR]]
-Potential mentors: raimue
-
-==== Task 8: Portfiles ====
+==== Portfiles ====
 
 Sweep through all Portfiles and look for useful opportunities to add more built-in Tcl functions that make Portfiles more (usefully) terse, powerful, flexible or easier to write.  I'm sure there is an entirely family of helper functions yet to be written here.
 
@@ -118,21 +110,14 @@
 Programming language: Tcl[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: wms
 
-==== Task 9: Mirroring ====
-
-Implement a mechanism and setup a system to mirror distribution files for MacPorts. This task consists in developing tools to automatically create and update mirror directories and will certainly require some rework of the code that fetches tarballs.
-
-Classification: medium task[[BR]]
-Potential mentors: wms
-
-==== Task 10: Shell Environment ====
+==== Shell Environment ====
 
 Add support for for providing basic and port-provided environmental services to users in the `~/.profile`, `~/.cshrc`, and `~/.xinitrc` files, so that instead of manipulating the user's .profile to modify certain paths, the installer could append "`source /opt/local/etc/bash.rc`" to the end of a user's .profile file and that bash.rc would source all the files in `/opt/local/etc/bash.d`. 
 
 Classification: medium task [[BR]]
 Potential mentors: rhwood, jmpp
 
-==== Task 11: Automatic testing ====
+==== Automatic testing ====
 
 MacPorts project currently includes a [source:trunk/base/tests test framework] to test features of the infrastructure. However, the tests do not cover all the code and they are not executed on an automatic basis. This task consists of extending the test framework and could be broadened to develop a code coverage technology for MacPorts to make the infrastructure more robust to future changes.
 
@@ -140,15 +125,15 @@
 Programming languages: Tcl, C[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: wms
 
-==== Task 12: Logging ====
+==== Logging ====
 
-Currently MacPorts has no notion of logging of build activities of a given port or sets of ports. When a a build is attempted but an error keeps it from completing, there's no way to track the problem other than the build progress that was output to the terminal, if verbose mode was requested in the first place. Otherwise, the build environment has to be pruned and the build attempted once again to even get a look at the precise error message. This is particularly problematic when automated builds are attempted, since there's usually no one around to have a look at the failure spew. An infrastructure to remedy this situation and endow MacPorts with a rich set of logging capabilities has to be developed to open up the door to true automated build runs of large sets of ports and thus to packaging of binaries, since with logging we'd have a fully reliable way of catching, reporting and processing of all sorts of fetch/configure/build/destroot/install/etc errors, possibly through the interaction with a server side application like MPWA that could consume these logs (read below). A more detailed draft of this task can be found on the LoggingProposal page.
+Currently MacPorts has no notion of logging of build activities of a given port or sets of ports. When a a build is attempted but an error keeps it from completing, there's no way to track the problem other than the build progress that was output to the terminal, if verbose mode was requested in the first place. Otherwise, the build environment has to be pruned and the build attempted once again to even get a look at the precise error message. This is particularly problematic when automated builds are attempted, since there's usually no one around to have a look at the failure spew. An infrastructure to remedy this situation and endow MacPorts with a rich set of logging capabilities has to be developed to open up the door to true automated build runs of large sets of ports and thus to packaging of binaries, since with logging we'd have a fully reliable way of catching, reporting and processing of all sorts of fetch/configure/build/destroot/install/etc errors, possibly through the interaction with a server side application like MPWA that could consume these logs (read MPWA proposal). A more detailed draft of this task can be found on the LoggingProposal page.
 
 Classification: medium task to relatively challenging[[BR]]
 Prohramming languages: xml or yaml or html, C, Tcl, PHP or RoR[[BR]]
 Potential mentor: jmpp, wms
 
-==== Task 13: MacPorts Web Application ====
+==== MacPorts Web Application ====
 
 A very good start has been made on a Web Application for MacPorts to serve as a basis for easier user submission and maintenance of ports, not to mention monitoring of port build status, browsing of ports, etc. This work is known as MPWA and is written in Ruby on Rails. This task is to complete the work on MPWA so that it is usable for day to day usage by the MacPorts community. Work is needed on user credentials and authentication, port dependency  integration, port submission and tracking, etc. This is a very exciting project and can help MacPorts scale to support a larger community.
 

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