F38 Change: Major upgrade of Microdnf (Self-Contained Change proposal)

[Ben Cotton]

https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/MajorUpgradeOfMicrodnf

== Summary ==
A major upgrade of Microdnf is the first step in the evolution of
package management in Fedora. The new microdnf has ambitions to
provide all major features of DNF without losing its minimal
footprint.


== Owner ==
* Name: [[User:jmracek| Jaroslav Mracek]]
* Email: jmracek(a)redhat.com


== Detailed Description ==
The new major Microdnf will provide huge improvements and in some
cases better behavior then DNF. In the future, the new Microdnf will
replace DNF. The new Microdnf will be accompanied by a new library
(`libdnf5`) and a new DNF Daemon.

=== MICRODNF features ===
* Improved user experience
** Improved progress bars
** Improved transaction table
** Transaction progress reports including scriptlets reports
** Support of local rpm for transaction operation
** Great bash completion (better then DNF has)

=== LIBDNF5 features ===

* Fully integrated Modularity in LIBDNF workflows
** Modularity is currently supported in DNF and LIBDNF, but it is not
fully integrated due to limitations in compatibility with other tools
(PackageKit)
** Fully integrated Modularity requires changes in library workflow
* Unified user interface
** DNF/YUM was developed for decades with the impact of multiple
styles and naming conventions (options, configuration options,
commands)
* Plugins
** DNF plugins are not applicable for PackageKit and Microdnf (e.g.
versionlock, subscription-manager), therefore PackageKit behaves
differently to DNF
* New plugins (C++, Python) will be available for all users
** Unified behavior
** Removal of functional duplicates
*** Decrease maintenance cost
* Shared configurations
** In DNF4 the configuration is only partially honored by PackageKit
and Microdnf
* New Daemon
** The new daemon can provide an alternative to PackageKit for RPMs
(only one backend of PackageKit) if it will be integrated into the
Desktop
* Additional improvements
** Reports in structure (API)
*** DNF reports a lot of important information only in logs
* Shared cache and improved cache handling (optional, not available in
Fedora 38)
** Microdnf, DNF4, and PackageKit use cached repositories on a
different location with different cache structure
* Performance improvement
** Loading of repositories
** Advisory operation
** RPM query
*** Name filters with a case-insensitive search
** Smart sharing of metadata between dnf, microdnf, daemon (optional,
not available in Fedora 38)
*** Reduce disk and downloads requirements
* Relocation of internal databases into `/usr`
** Make rollback more easy

=== Downsides ===
* Relocation of internal databases and different structure of internal databases
** The transaction performed by the new MICRODNF will be not visible by DNF
** The transaction performed by DNF or PackageKit will be not visible
by the new MICRODNF
** Packages installed by another packager will be handled as userinstalled
*** Consequence => The removal of a package will not trigger removal
of unused dependencies
* Compatibility
** To improve user experience and to unify dnf/microdnf behavior we
were unable to keep 100% compatibility with formal Microdnf in
command-line and in behavior


== Benefit to Fedora ==
The new MICRODNF significantly improves the user experience and in the
future it will provide all important features of DNF. It will also
keep all advantages of the original MICRODNF, like minimal size
required by containers.
The presence of MICRODNF, LIBDNF5, and DNFDAEMON in the distribution
will also allow for a smooth transition of components using `dnf`,
`python3-dnf`, `python3-hawkey`, `libdnf`, `dnfdragora`, and
`python3-dnfdaemon` to a new library.

* Improved progress bars
* Improved transaction table
* Transaction progress reports including scriptlets reports
* Support of local rpm for transaction operation
* Great bash completion (better then DNF has)
* `builddep` command without Python on the system


== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
The new Microdnf is still in the development and some of the features
or options are not yet available. We still have to finish the
implementation of Modularity, storing internal data related to History
and System State, and also documentation and man pages. The new
Microdnf can be tested from repository with upstream nightly builds -
https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/rpmsoftwaremanagement/dnf5-unstable/.
The project's github repository is here -
https://github.com/rpm-software-management/libdnf/tree/dnf-5-devel


* Other developers:

* Release engineering:
* Policies and guidelines: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Trademark approval: N/A (not needed for this Change)
* Alignment with Objectives:


== Upgrade/compatibility impact ==


== How To Test ==


== User Experience ==
* Improved progress bars
* Improved transaction table
* Transaction progress reports including scriptlets reports
* Support of local rpm for transaction operation
* Great bash completion (better then DNF has)
* New commands and options that are only available with `DNF`

== Dependencies ==


== Contingency Plan ==
* Contingency mechanism: (What to do?  Who will do it?) N/A (not a
System Wide Change)
* Contingency deadline: N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Blocks release? N/A (not a System Wide Change), Yes/No


== Documentation ==
N/A (not a System Wide Change)

== Release Notes ==



-- 
Ben Cotton
He / Him / His
Fedora Program Manager
Red Hat
TZ=America/Indiana/Indianapolis