Re: Testing pkgsrc builds & dependencies

[Jonathan Perkin <jperkin%joyent.com@localhost>]

* On 2021-12-23 at 07:37 GMT, Gordon Zaft wrote:

> The specific goal is to build pkgsrc packages from source in isolation (not
> in bulk) to ferret out problems with dependencies that I (and I'm sure
> others) have often found.

It's worth being even more specific about what you want to achieve to 
avoid duplicating effort.  More help is always great but there's no 
point wasting your time on something that is already done elsewhere.  
Bulk builds already cover the following cases across all packages:

 * Invalid dependencies (e.g. invalid package match).

 * Missing build-time dependencies (whether missed completely, or thanks
   to building with a clean prefix for every build catching cases where
   developers relied on already-installed packages).

 * Rebuilding all affected packages which can mask issues with e.g.
   forgetting to revbump correctly.

 * All of the post-package dependency checks to ensure correct run-time
   dependencies.

This leaves some of the following situations which aren't covered by 
bulk builds:

 * Builds with non-default options, or at least options that aren't
   already selected by other bulk builders (e.g. many of my bulk builds
   have a large number of options configured).

 * Builds on systems with many pre-installed packages (sometimes having
   software installed can affect e.g. configure tests that result in a
   different build).  Obviously this is an unbounded problem and we'll
   never catch all cases.

 * Manual package upgrades.  Anyone using pkgin is effectively shielded
   from the many revbump-related issues we encounter, but as there are a
   number of non-pkgin users it'd be good to keep exposing these issues
   as they crop up.

 * Test dependencies (nobody can effectively run bulk builds with
   PKGSRC_RUN_TEST=yes because test failures result in a broken build
   and thus many thousands of failed dependencies).

There may be others, but I would encourage you to have a think first 
about what specific goal you're trying to achieve and then go for it.

Thanks,

--
Jonathan Perkin  -  Joyent, Inc.  -  www.joyent.com