F27 Self Contained Change: True Noarch Erlang Packages
= Proposed Self Contained Change: True Noarch Erlang Packages =
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Changes/TrueNoarchErlangPackages
Change owner(s):
* Randy Barlow <bowlofeggs AT fedoraproject DOT org>
Erlang packages are currently all installed into
%{_libdir}/erlang/lib, despite most of them being noarch packages.
This proposal is to modify Erlang to search %{_datadir}/erlang/lib in
addition to %{_libdir}/erlang/lib when searching for dependencies.
== Detailed Description ==
The Erlang VM is currently hardcoded to search for dependencies in
%{_libdir}/erlang/lib (on x86_64 this is /usr/lib64/erlang/lib). Due
to this, all Erlang packages are currently compiled "archful", despite
most of them being pure Erlang and thus truly noarch. This leads to
longer build times for Erlang packages, and more storage used in Koji
and on the mirrors.
This change proposes to add an additional path to be searched by the
Erlang VM when finding dependencies at %{_datadir}/erlang/lib (on
x86_64 this is /usr/share/erlang/lib). Additionally, the build macros
will be udpated to automatically use this new path for installation
for noarch packages. "Archful" packages will continue to store their
files where they do today.
== Scope ==
* Proposal owners:
Write a small patch for the Erlang VM to search two paths instead of
one when loading dependencies. We will attempt to get this patch
accepted upstream first, but we will then carry the patch downstream
until accepted by upstream.
Modify the Erlang RPM macros to use the new path for noarch packages.
* Other developers:
Any developers who are not using the Erlang install RPM macro should
modify their spec file to either use the macro, or to install their
noarch packages to the new location.
* Release engineering:
#6685 (a check of an impact with Release Engineering is needed)
We could mass-rebuild Erlang packages, but everything should keep
working without doing a mass rebuild so it is probably not necessary
or worthwhile, unless we want to more immediately clear up a little
disk space. The recommendation is to wait until the next mass rebuild
since there will be no interruptions for existing packages, i.e., no
effort required from Releng.
* List of deliverables:
N/A (not a System Wide Change)
* Policies and guidelines:
- Erlang packages do not have formal packaging guidelines yet, though
this document does exist:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/User:Peter/Erlang_Packaging_Guidelines
- We should update the WIP guidelines.
* Trademark approval:
N/A (not needed for this Change)
--
Jan Kuřík
Platform & Fedora Program Manager
Red Hat Czech s.r.o., Purkynova 99/71, 612 45 Brno, Czech Republic