[gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Debian User Jean-Baptiste Note]

Hello

I'm glad to announce that emerge system works for (almost)all packageson ppc.
>From these I have to substract the x86-specific packages. and iproute2,
that gives me some problems maybe because of -Werror only.
I have kept good record of the steps i took.

Just to introduce myself, i'm 22 years old, a student in a French engeneering
school. Although I have been using a computer for some time now, and debian linux
for a little more than one year, i must say i'm no linux expert.
I have very little experience in development for instance, but i'm willing
and hopefully able to learn fast :)

>From this comes two points :
1/ gentoo is extremely flexible. Port isnt hard, or i wouldn't have succeeded
in advancing so much. I never delved into portage, and barely edited some .ebuilds files.
I have gathered enough information so that i can write a gentoo-porting howto
from a working debian install, that can work as a base for an alpha port,
for instance, that should not be hard either.
Thank you for the great job of Gentoo in the first place !

2/ I am willing to do some modifications to portage to allow more cross-platform
flexibility. But, it obviously needs to be concerted.
So i'm gonna tell you boringly of the problems i encountered and some solutions
that i though of.

Problems are
a) platform-specific patches (gcc, patch itself)
b) platform-specific options (for instance, a `use altivec` one for
powerpc processors)
b) platform-specific packages (bootloaders for instance)

b)
I think portage needs a little tweaking i'm willing to do.
this would go thus (let's take the function src_uncompress as an exemple)
* look in the .ebuild for a platform-specific function to be executed
if it exists. 
* if src_uncompress_ppc exists on my ppc machine,
then execute it regardless of the existence of src_uncompress
* if no such platform-specific function is found, then
fallback on scr_uncompress.

This would allow a smooth transition :
--existing .ebuild files still work, and a default behaviour
is given to the platform-specific packagers
--you can still "factorize" platform-independent instructions
in the scr_uncompress function, and call it in the platform-specific
function
--ppc/alpha developers can safely work on their specific part
without endangering the x86 part

It would be nice, too, if some ${ARCH} variable computed by portage
was available to the .ebuild writer.

a)
The problem is that you don't necessarily want the x86 user to download
a ppc-spceific patch.
then you could define a SCR_URI_X86 SRC_URI_PPC additional to the already
existant SRC_URI if the ${ARCH} is matched. Better hide it in portage
than in a ugly if statement in the .ebuild file, i think (once again,
code factorization)

c)
I should think that platform-dependent utilities are not so much needed.
well, apart from x86 assembly compiler and bootloaders, that is :)
the answer, generally speaking, is virtual packages, if all platform can
provide their version of one tool. (ybin as bootloader for instance)
this is certainly the most difficult part, and i haven't given it much
though.

One more personal remark, not to bother you with my life, but :
i'm still a student, and do not have a hell of time :(
that'll be worse even after i suppose anyways.
Things i want to do
*solve the platform-specific-packages design problem
*write a gentoo-bootstrap-from-debian howto to help support other architectures (alpha ?)
*package ybin ? not really necessary, since most will dual-boot or
work chrooted
*hack portage. i'm learing python (not so tough :) and will look into
portage. but to implement, things need to be settled.

I'm done. I didn't know how to introduce myself, if i may sound awkward or
anything, please do not heed.
(My mastering of the English language is not good, either).

Thank you for your time, Jean-Baptiste Note.

-- 
I'm an occurence of the I love GNU virus.
Please help me spread.

[gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van den Abeele]

Hello,

My name is Pieter Van den Abeele, I'm a computer science student at the Free 
University of Brussels and I would really like to help maintaining 
(creating?) the Gentoo ppc port :-)  

I only quickly read this lists archive, so I do not know for sure if somebody 
already started such a project. If so, does he/she needs some support and 
would he/she be so kind to tell me where I can find more information about 
the current status? 

Best Regards,

-- 
Pieter Van den Abeele
pvdabeel@vub.ac.be

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Kain]

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On Mon, Mar 25, 2002 at 01:34:38PM +0100, Pieter Van den Abeele wrote:
> University of Brussels and I would really like to help maintaining 
> (creating?) the Gentoo ppc port :-)  
> 
> already started such a project. If so, does he/she needs some support and 
> would he/she be so kind to tell me where I can find more information about 

I have already been working on this for about a week.  I am actually in
the process of finally building a pmac cdimage.iso as I write this, and
will put up an alterate portage tree in a day or two.  

Syscall #'s for XFS xattr support on PPC still need to be reserved.
They are already reserved on i386 for #226-#237, I believe.  In the PPC
kernels I've built, I've just padded the syscall table up to 226 and
dropped these calls in there.

On another note. Is there a way we can come up with that we could
override the linux-headers package on a per-profile basis?  This would
help make bootstraps easier.

Also, I keep running into a bug with sandbox that I haven't looked into
yet where stuff will freeze up (like an inf.loop.) with WCHANs often of
rt_sigwait(?) and pipe_wait...

I also hit a patch (the utility) bug that seems to be fixed by building
it the way debian does and maybe with their bugfix patches.. I'll be
submitting an .ebuild for this to bugzilla in a bit.

Also, I doubt that this could be achieved in the near-term, but
gcc-3.0.4 kernels on ppc oops for me under moderate vm load. :( Also, as
far as kernels go, I've managed to make a PPC kernel with XFS support, I
haven't tested anything reiserfs, nor do I really intend to.

Expect cdimage.iso/build.tbz2 and a rsyncable portage tree that (mostly)
works for ppc on Tuesday or so.

sandbox not working may just be because I've bootstrapped this from a
(almost bare) debian install... I'll have to try it again when I boot
strap from the gentooppc image I'm building.

Film at 11.
--
The Government just announced today the creation of the Neutron Bomb II.
Similar to the Neutron Bomb, the Neutron Bomb II not only kills people
and leaves buildings standing, but also does a little light housekeeping.
**
Friendly Neighborhood BOFH
Bryon Roche, Kain <kain@imperativesolutions.com>
<kain@kain.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van den Abeele]

On Monday 25 March 2002 14:03, Kain wrote:

> I have already been working on this for about a week.  I am actually in
> the process of finally building a pmac cdimage.iso as I write this, and
> will put up an alterate portage tree in a day or two.

that's good news :-)  

> Also, I doubt that this could be achieved in the near-term, but
> gcc-3.0.4 kernels on ppc oops for me under moderate vm load. 

As far as my experience with gcc3 and kernelcompiles goes, I do not recommend 
using gcc3* for compiling kernels (neither on x86 or ppc)  - at least not 
until gcc is completely adopted/supported by the kernel-space people. 
Btw. do all your ppc kernels have this problem?

> :( Also, as
> far as kernels go, I've managed to make a PPC kernel with XFS support, I
> haven't tested anything reiserfs, nor do I really intend to.

I'll be testing reiserfs, haven't tried XFS yet...(think I should :-) ) I've 
never had any real problems using reiserfs on the x86 platform and I do not 
expect reiserfs to behave incorrectly on ppc.

> Expect cdimage.iso/build.tbz2 and a rsyncable portage tree that (mostly)
> works for ppc on Tuesday or so.

:-) 

-- 
Pieter Van den Abeele
pvdabeel@vub.ac.be

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Kain]

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On Mon, Mar 25, 2002 at 02:59:29PM +0100, Pieter Van den Abeele wrote:
> On Monday 25 March 2002 14:03, Kain wrote:
> 
> > I have already been working on this for about a week.  I am actually in
> > the process of finally building a pmac cdimage.iso as I write this, and
> > will put up an alterate portage tree in a day or two.

A bit later than I thought, but I have a portage tree + cdimage ready
for a PPC gentoo.. only problem is I don't have anywhere really reliable
to put these.. my webhosting is down tonight :(
-- 
All religions issue Bibles against Satan, and say the most injurious things
against him, but we never hear his side.
                -- Mark Twain
**
Guru
Bryon Roche, Kain <kain@imperativesolutions.com>
<kain@kain.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van Den Abeele]

On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, Kain wrote:

> On Mon, Mar 25, 2002 at 02:59:29PM +0100, Pieter Van den Abeele wrote:
> > On Monday 25 March 2002 14:03, Kain wrote:
> > 
> > > I have already been working on this for about a week.  I am actually in
> > > the process of finally building a pmac cdimage.iso as I write this, and
> > > will put up an alterate portage tree in a day or two.
> 
> A bit later than I thought, but I have a portage tree + cdimage ready
> for a PPC gentoo.. only problem is I don't have anywhere really reliable
> to put these.. my webhosting is down tonight :(

I can try to pull some strings if you need some reliable space :-) 
How much space do you need exactly? (Bandwidth is not a problem)

> -- 
> All religions issue Bibles against Satan, and say the most injurious things
> against him, but we never hear his side.
>                 -- Mark Twain
> **
> Guru
> Bryon Roche, Kain <kain@imperativesolutions.com>
> <kain@kain.org>
> 

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Kain]

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On Fri, Mar 29, 2002 at 10:24:27AM +0100, Pieter Van Den Abeele wrote:
> > A bit later than I thought, but I have a portage tree + cdimage ready
> > for a PPC gentoo.. only problem is I don't have anywhere really reliable
> > to put these.. my webhosting is down tonight :(
> 
> I can try to pull some strings if you need some reliable space :-) 
> How much space do you need exactly? (Bandwidth is not a problem)

I need 86meg + a place that a rsyncd can be run from
(44 megs boot iso & build.tbz2)
(38 megs portage tree)
(4 meg kernel patch)
-- 
I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman
Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church,
nor by any Church that I know of.  My own mind is my own Church.
                -- Thomas Paine
**
Supervillain
Bryon Roche, Kain <kain@imperativesolutions.com>
<kain@kain.org>

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Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van den Abeele]

On Saturday 30 March 2002 03:57, you wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 29, 2002 at 10:24:27AM +0100, Pieter Van Den Abeele wrote:
> > > A bit later than I thought, but I have a portage tree + cdimage ready
> > > for a PPC gentoo.. only problem is I don't have anywhere really
> > > reliable to put these.. my webhosting is down tonight :(
> >
> > I can try to pull some strings if you need some reliable space :-)
> > How much space do you need exactly? (Bandwidth is not a problem)
>
> I need 86meg + a place that a rsyncd can be run from
> (44 megs boot iso & build.tbz2)
> (38 megs portage tree)
> (4 meg kernel patch)

gentooppc.sunsite.dk will be setup asap. 
This site can be used in future as primary Gentoo ppc portage location. more 
details about uploading etc. will follow

-- 
Pieter Van den Abeele
pvdabeel@vub.ac.be

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Fuper]

On Saturday 30 March 2002 01:01 pm, you wrote:
> gentooppc.sunsite.dk

Thank you --- I'll test the new ppc gentoo as soon
as it is available.  Please post another message
when the site is up.  

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van den Abeele]

On Sunday 31 March 2002 05:42, you wrote:
> On Saturday 30 March 2002 01:01 pm, you wrote:
> > gentooppc.sunsite.dk
>
> Thank you --- I'll test the new ppc gentoo as soon
> as it is available.  Please post another message
> when the site is up.

Site is up, uploading http, iso and portage will happen probably later today 
(tonight). Expect a ppc gentoo port real soon now :-) I'll post a final 
message if everything has been completed and iso download and ppc portage 
usage is possible.

-- 
Pieter Van den Abeele
pvdabeel@vub.ac.be

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[Pieter Van den Abeele]

On Monday 01 April 2002 14:12, you wrote:
> On Sunday 31 March 2002 05:42, you wrote:
> > On Saturday 30 March 2002 01:01 pm, you wrote:
> > > gentooppc.sunsite.dk
> >
> > Thank you --- I'll test the new ppc gentoo as soon
> > as it is available.  Please post another message
> > when the site is up.
>
> Site is up, uploading http, iso and portage will happen probably later
> today (tonight). Expect a ppc gentoo port real soon now :-) I'll post a
> final message if everything has been completed and iso download and ppc
> portage usage is possible.

An anoncvs tree containing ppcportage will be set up on gentooppc.sunsite.dk, 
users wanting cvs read/write access, can sent a username and an encrypted 
password to me (pvdabeel@vub.ac.be) The password should be encrypted with 
the standard UNIX crypt(), for example you can use the htpasswd command from 
Apache to encrypt the password

rsync access will be:
rsync://sunsite.dk/gentooppc (currently still password protected)

does anyone think a separate gentooppc (announce/dev) mailinglist is needed? 

regards,

-- 
Pieter Van den Abeele
pvdabeel@vub.ac.be

Re: [gentoo-dev] ppc mailinglist

[Bjarke Sørensen]

linux-dev skrev:
>
>> does anyone think a separate gentooppc (announce/dev) mailinglist is
>> needed?
> YES!  the testing/bugs/error reports will most likely have a lot of ppc
> specific causes.  to avoid putting a burden on the gentoo-dev or

Indeed!

And I expect this list will actually be used (as oposed to gentoo-newbie and
gentoo-security).


-- 
Bjarke Sørensen

 bs@gentoo.dk
 http://gentoo.dk/

Re: [gentoo-dev] gentoo ppc

[linux-dev]

> does anyone think a separate gentooppc (announce/dev) mailinglist is needed? 

YES!  the testing/bugs/error reports will most likely have a lot of
ppc specific causes.  to avoid putting a burden on the gentoo-dev or
gentoo-user lists, i'd recommend a gentoo-ppc list.  this has worked
successfully before (at least with debian-ppc).

/r