https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=464833 Summary: Change the way linkpac works... Product: openSUSE.org Version: unspecified Platform: Other OS/Version: Other Status: NEW Severity: Enhancement Priority: P5 - None Component: BuildService AssignedTo: bnc-team-screening@forge.provo.novell.com ReportedBy: msuman@novell.com QAContact: adrian@novell.com Found By: --- The current behavior of using a linked package has a little flaw in it that makes life a little hard for the packagers. 1) I link a pack from openSUSE:Factory 2) I make my local modifications and commit to my repo 3) The openSUSE:Factory package gets an update => and almost always breaks my linked package (mostly as the patch cannot be applied). This means that packagers should always be on their toes watching for changes in the parent project and keep fixing them all the time. Not good :( There is a slight modification that can be made which will break a _lot_ less packages and make life a little more easier. Before that - a few premises: 1) 8 out of 10 times, the update to the parent package is the addition of a new patch (=> one extra patch, and changes in the .spec and .changes file) 2) 9 out of 10 times, the linked package is = the parent package and the addition of a new patch/new tarball (also => one extra patch/new tarball, and changes in the .spec and .changes file) 3) The breakage caused when the parent package is updated is almost always due to hunks that cannot be applied to the .spec and .changes files What can we do to fix this? When I create a link a package, copy the .spec and .changes file to the linked package. i.e. the linked project has a 'local' copy of the .spec and .changes files. Why would this work? Like I mentioned above, the package breakage is almost always due to bad hunks in the .spec and .changes files. Having a local copy in the linked project ensures that such a breakage does not happen. How should the owner of the linked package know that the parent project has had an update? This is technically possible by comparing the .changes of the parent and linked projects. Only a simple comparison should do and there is no need for the server to try and merge the changes. If the linked project is up-to-date with the parent project, then the linked project's .changes file is likely to have one or more 'incremental' .changes entry. If not, a simple warning on the linked project's page would suffice to alert the owner of the updates in parent project. [Bottomline - the server should compare the .changes files to alert when changes are made to the parent project] When the alert is shown to the owner of the linked project, there can be a link to show a simple 'diff -Nup' of the .spec and .changes files between the parent and the linked projects. osc can have a simple command for this, 'osc diffcore' This idea I propose may not be a complete solution but it _will_ certainly reduce the number of breakages caused to linked projects. Packagers can update the their specs with discretion. I am not aware of the feasibility of this proposal but I do hope that it can be implemented without a lot of effort. :) -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug.