[csw-maintainers] Upgrading shared libraries

[Maciej (Matchek) Blizinski]

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 5:19 PM, Philip Brown <phil at bolthole.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 6:52 AM, Maciej (Matchek) Blizinski
> <maciej at opencsw.org> wrote:
>> I'm splitting this thread, to talk a bit more about library updates.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 12:43 PM,  <dam at opencsw.org> wrote:
>>> Hi Maciej,
>>>
>>>
>>>> I see, version modulations. Is it a one-way process only? I mean, this
>>>> way the list of package versions is going to be growing indefinitely,
>>>> unless there's a process in place to phase out the old versions.
>>>
>>> No. After the updated package has been released you file the bugs
>>> to the packages depending on the old libs :-) After the last one has
>>> been updated you remove them from your package.
>>
>> I'll drill the topic some more. What if a dependent package becomes
>> orphaned? Suppose there's CSWlibfoo, which has been updated, but
>> package CSWbar depends on it, the maintainer vanished inside a black
>> hole and nobody is willing to pick the package up. Are there any
>> deadlines?
>
>
> I dont see how this "changes" anything.
>
> every package that is "current"ly being distributed, needs to actually WORK.
> for so long as CSWbar is present, CSWlibfoo must ensure that it does
> not break, by supplying the older library that CSWbar requires.

That's clear. What I had in mind is: how do we prevent our libraries
from growing indefinitely in size due to stale dependent packages?

>> Ideally, I'd like it to be there a page which describes how to deal
>> with library updates,
>
> I believe there already is such a page, and it mentions what dago
> says: Provide the older versions of the shared libs for so long as
> other packages we distribute, require them.

I think it would be the one with the following URL:

http://www.opencsw.org/standards/libraries

It's a narrative describing it from a high level. It's a good start,
but not really what I had in mind. I was thinking of having it
documented:

- what are the possible strategies (Dago mentioned two of them)
- how to achieve that in GAR
- what is the process of phasing out old library versions
- what are the deadlines for phasing out old libraries (say, there's a
bug to update a package, but doesn't get fixed for X amount of time.
What's happening with the dependent package, does it need a new
maintainer, or does it get killed?)

Maciej