Re: recovery status update

[Martin Michlmayr <tbm@cyrius.com>]

* Wouter Verhelst <wouter@grep.be> [2003-12-30 17:19]:
> However, it is my understanding that madison does output data about
> stuff which is already in auric's archive, but not sent to the
> mirrors yet. Did I misunderstand that?

There isn't really such a big delay in the update to the database on
auric and the mirrors.  The database is currently not updated
continuously, but once a day at dinstall time (right after which the
mirror pulse happens).

In the past, before "new incoming" (the current system), packages were
uploaded to "incoming" throughout the day and then, at dinstall time,
those packages would be processed.  They would first be checked and
some packages would be rejected.  The rest would be accepted,
installed and the database updated.  One downside with this is that
dinstall time was rather long because all packages have to be checked
at that time.  Also, you'd only get informed about rejected packages
at dinstall time (and hence "dinstall -n" was useful, so you'd
immediately see whether the upload looks okay).

Nowadays, packages are uploaded to "unchecked" and are then checked
every 15 minutes.  Those packages which are okay are moved to
"accepted" (the new "incoming"), and those which are not are moved to
"rejected" and a mail is sent (the maintainers get notified very
quickly, and hence "dinstall -n" isn't really of much value anymore).
When a package is put in "accepted", the buildds also notice this and
start building the package (another feature over the old system).
However, while those packages are in the "accepted" directory, the
database is not yet updated.  They are, like in the past, put into
unstable (which is associated with a database update) once a day - at
dinstall time.  Right afterwards, the mirror pulse happens.  Hence,
what madison shows and what you can find on the mirrors is usually the
same.

In the future, the plan is (so I have heard) to move "accepted" to the
database as well; madison would then also show packages in "accepted"
(incoming).  Then, the database will be updated regularly (every 15
minutes).  However, this apparently requires a full rewrite of some
scripts, so it's not clear when this is going to happen.

I hope this summary shows you better how katie works.  Also, I hear a
mirror of the archive (and hence madison) is not too far away.
-- 
Martin Michlmayr
tbm@cyrius.com