On Mon, Jul 02, 2001 at 07:45:05PM -0500, GT wrote: > Quoting Nathan Myers <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > Such a library already exists in BSD, and need only be packaged for > > Debian. In effect, (c) is just an implementation detail of (b) that > > allows much of the porting effort to be shared among all the ported > > packages. A person willing to put more work into a port might bypass > > the compat library. > > > > Actually, the BSD compat library even provides a degree of binary > > compatibility, which we don't need. Much of it could be discarded. > > If Nathan's right, I don't see why we couldn't start > producing transitional packages Real Soon Now(tm).
"Now(tm)" would be a good time. Anybody with a Summer Vacation can go ahead and start packaging things Right Now. There's no need for more talk; it's clear what has to happen, and either somebody just does it, or the project will have to be considered vaporware again. To get started: if you don't have NetBSD, install a minimal system. It's easy. Start Debianizing core BSD kernel-related packages. Port dpkg, apt, and the package build tools. Start replacing raw binaries by unpacking your Debianized versions. Phase 1 is complete when all the binaries in the minimal system were unpacked from .deb files. For Phase 2, port the Debain installer. For phase 3, start building non-kernel-related Debian packages for the system, patching as you go. (Phase 3 is never done.) Don't worry about duplicating somebody else's work; the best of both will end up used, and at worst you'll learn a lot. There's no need to decide whether to use BSD libc or GNU libc; if you want to try porting GNU libc, just go ahead. If you do a good job your work will be used, and adopted into the upstream package; the GNU libc project welcomes ports. Debian GNU/BSD can use as many libc's as there are. (Cygnus newlib might be a good idea too.) Nathan Myers ncm at cantrip dot org
