RE: [iPAQ] packages...

Carl,

That sounds like a good start. I had the same issues with the union files
system. I also thought of using symbolic links. One problem with both
solutions is what to do about shared files. Specifically, shared
configuration files. What happens when you remove one file system, who does
the file go with? Can you back out the information?

I would like to somehow take standard debian packages and repackage them. I
have been using debian over an nfs and it works great. Only a few programs
don't work right. What have you done? Do you need any help? I have made a
few debian packages on i386 for my own use. Something I didn't mention last
time, where can we put packages? Right now programs are spread all over the
internet. Would be nice to get them all in one place.

Anthony

-----Original Message-----
From: ipaq-admin@handhelds.org [mailto:ipaq-admin@handhelds.org]On
Behalf Of Carl Worth
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2001 8:22 AM
To: Anthony Mills
Cc: ipaq@handhelds.org
Subject: [iPAQ] packages...

Anthony,

I am currently working on a packaging system for familiar. So far, I
have familiar bleeding, (pre v0.4), broken up into about 86
packages. I am using the original Debian packages as a starting point
whenever possible. I haven't finished the control scripts, but I
intend to have a subset of the Debian functionality, (as well as a
package that would provide full dpkg/apt functionality if you've got
the space for it).

As far as the issues you've raised here concerning dynamic drive
configurations. It seems like the right solution would be some sort of
union filesystem. I'm imagining mounting a CF/microdrive partition
over an existing directory and having the files from the union of both
directories available. Does something like this exist yet? It seems
that the braindead version, (make the original directory read-only or
something), would be quite easy to write. The tricky parts to work out
smoothly would be:

        In which filesystem do new files/directories get created?

        How could you copy/move files between the two merged
        filesystems?

Another less drastic approach would be to make heavy use of symbolic
links. A tool that automatically creates a tree of symbolic links
could be useful here, see stow or graft:

        http://www.gnu.org/software/stow/

        http://www.gormand.com.au/peters/tools/

-Carl

PS. In the next day or two I hope to make a very preliminary release
of my packages for familiar. It probably won't allow for dynamic
addition/removal of packages, but it will be useful for creating a
custom installation image for an iPAQ, (with dependency tracking etc.)

Anthony Mills writes:
> Hello all,
>
> I was wondering what people were doing with packages. It seems the ipaq
is
> mature enough to start adding packages. I have seen people discussing
using
> debian. This seems a logical choice, but I see some problems. Maybe I
am a
> "jonny come lately" and this has been discussed. I think the problem is
> with the file system layout. When you install a package you get files
> spread all over the filesystem. This is not a problem if you have fairly
> static drives, but with the uDrives, the compact flash memory, and the
> network connections you can have a very dynamic device. So, how can one
> install a program using debian, or a similar solution, and then pull the
> compact flash out and have the system not crash? Or the programs not
show
> up under the menu? And how do you install on a system that is not hooked
> up? It would be rather slow to install a 50mb program across the serial
> port. Another problem I can see is when you put in two, or more?,
external
> storage devices. How would this be handled? Something else that occured
to
> me, what if I want to install a package into the flash of my ipaq, or
maybe
> on the microdrive. How can we handle installing the program into
multiple
> places. The best I can come up with is to have everything installed
under
> /usr/local, or something similar, or a more radical solution is to have a
> directory point to more than one place. I am willing to devote some time
to
> a solution.
>
> Anthony Mills
>
>
> P.S. I have nothing at all against debian; I think it is the best
> distribution.
>
> _______________________________________________
> iPAQ mailing list
> iPAQ@handhelds.org
> http://handhelds.org/mailman/listinfo/ipaq
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Received on Wed Apr 18 20:32:14 2001