[CentOS-devel] Is it possible to merge elrepo.org contribute to centos main repository?

Jim Perrin jperrin at centos.org
Wed Feb 26 16:20:37 UTC 2014



On 02/26/2014 09:33 AM, Ljubomir Ljubojevic wrote:

> 
> Is it better to have users COMPILE FROM SOURCE???? Because they f***ing DO!

Not one single person has ever said that in this discussion. That's not
even what this is about. This is about including packages in the CORE
(yes, extras is enabled by default) distribution.

If a sig wants to create a 'centos-enhanced' distribution and pull these
repos in, that's entirely fine. I don't have a single problem with that
and would happily support it. That's entirely the point of the
SIG/variant framework. However we've always been protective of the core
distribution, and that's one of the reasons it's been successful.



> So when one stupid newbie created blog entry explaining that CentOS does 
> not have that package, so you need to recompile it, and gives you 
> step-by-step howto, something is wrong. But when there is MORE such 
> pages/blogs then "install it from 3rd party repository we wish not to 
> name so there are no favorites...", then you have a HUGE problem. And 
> solution is to REDUCE the number of problematic blogs/pages, not 
> increase them doing absolutely nothing. "Prime directive" (Star Trek 
> reference) is all excellent and shiny, but does not solve people getting 
> burned anyway, and teaching others the wrong way in the process.

This issue isn't going to go away just because packages are available.
There are plenty of "how-to" instructions for rebuilding source for
packages that exist in base. zlib being the common example.


> By the way, RepoForge is practically dead in the water so no need using 
> it as EPEL vs Repoforge argument. If you were to create a poll on forums 
> (2-3 weeks of announcement in advance would be enough to rally all for 
> and against) where you would ask:

Fine substitute any other repository name out there. There are dozens to
choose from.

> 1) Do you agree that release packages for only EPEL and ElRepo 
> repositories are provided, but not other repositories, I am guessing 
> 80-90% will vote yes, and you will have community approval as a basis 
> for any question other repositories might raise.


Still missing the point. It's not a popularity contest. Yes, those two
win hands down. It's about establishing a baseline or metric so that
OTHER repos might work toward gaining that same level of
acceptance/trust, AND making sure we don't allow conflicting repos by
default, thus breaking yum update.




> 
> 
> I would be happy with something just resembling the CentOS name (DentOS. 
> PentOS, ...), but on the same resources as CentOS (either using CentOS 
> packages as a base or rebuilding it under another brand while building 
> CentOS packages) so there is newbie-friendly version that allows 3rd 
> party repositories. And I am guessing that this approach would mean most 
> people would choose this enhanced version of CentOS over original 
> CentOS, exactly because of out-of-the-box experience.


Again, this is EXACTLY the point of the SIG/variant concept. I
challenged you before to do this exact thing for a desktop sig.

> Maybe even "What is a proper way to do things" video that explains 
> differences to other distro's for users that are coming from 
> Ubuntu/Debian/Mint could help such transitions.

Dunno about a video, but I am working on a wiki page that deals with the
various command translations ( apt-get install foo -> yum install foo).

> 
> 
> Also worth thinking about is rebuilding EPEL and ElRepo packages inside 
> CentOS build system, so control is absolute that it will not mess up 
> anything.


We have been thinking about this, at least with EPEL. There are pitfalls
with doing this as well. Control is not absolute, as we do not own EPEL.
If we duplicate it, and adjust a package then we're a fork and we're
back to the same old interoperability discussion again depending on
what's changed, versions, and/or build deps.


apropos: https://xkcd.com/927/


-- 
Jim Perrin
The CentOS Project | http://www.centos.org
twitter: @BitIntegrity | GPG Key: FA09AD77



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