Where to from here?

[John Goerzen <jgoerzen@complete.org>]

Hi,

This message is a rather disorganized atempt to lay out the status of
the pure64 effort and solicit feedback on what our next steps should be.

First, the status part:

 * We have a working gcc that is a 64-bit executable and generates
   64-bit executables.  It cannot build a biarch kernel, which seems
   to be the biggest problem ATM.  This is not a long-term problem for
   pure64, as of course we are building a pure64 system -- and by the
   time that multiarch happens, presumably gcc will be sorted out too.

   I spent some time on it today, but I couldn't figure out how to build
   a 64-bit gcc that generates 64-bit bins by default and is also
   biarch.  But then I am a bad gcc hacker.

   My inclination is to ignore the problem for now and have people grab
   the 32-bit biarch gcc from Alioth of they need a biarch kernel.
   Either that, or someone will have to step up to the plate with a
   fixed version.

 * About 1.5 weeks ago, I wrote to the ftpmasters requesting space for
   amd64 on the official mirror network.  I have not heard back from
   them.

 * My own archive is reaching the limits of its design with about 6000
   packages present, and it is hard for others to collaborate.  A better
   system is urgently needed.  I could set one up, but if a pool-like
   system exists already somewhere, that's better (presumably it could
   check GPG signatures so uploads from people other than me could be
   handled too.)  Goswin made some noises before about space being
   available on Alioth; is this still possible, and if so, could there
   be an area for pure64 distinct from the multiarch area?

 * Because of the above, the autobuilder is not presently running.

 * Latest versions of procps and dpkg-dev are b0rked.

So, where do we go from here?  I think the archive situation is
absolutely critical.  I am becoming a bottleneck here, and I need to get
myself out of the critical path so that work can continue even if I'm
too busy to grab debs from all and sundry.  (FWIW, I'm having to catch
up on all the things I put off when I spent lots of time getting pure64
bootstrapped...)

Other thoughts are welcome.

On the multiarch side, there have been some noises about dpkg people
actually getting together to talk about the problem.  Other than that, I
haven't seen any activity.

-- John