Re: pbuilder, and why not...

[Dirk Eddelbuettel <edd@debian.org>]

Eduard Bloch <edi <at> gmx.de> writes:
> > Right solution is to use pbuilder, which will:
> > 
> > a) always ensure that package can be built using unstable
> > b) keep your build environment clean
> > c) keep your local system clean
> 
> d) Need lots of disk space
> e) Take ages to unpack
> f) Add more complexity for establishing build environment
> g) Help fragmenting your filesystem
> h) Need extra work to be kept in synch with Sid

I could hardly disagree more:

d) is not necessarily true or all that bad as you may actually save space
vis-a-vis a situation where you keep gazillion -dev packages on your system  
(cf original post in the thread).

e) yes, it may add a minute here or there, but pbuilder _dramatically_ 
increases your build reliability and saves you and the admins time as it 
prevents (build) bugs from propagating.  Also, with proper uses of LVM and 
snapshotting, you could reduce that time to very little or none.

f) To paraphrase yourself: 'only in the had of the uneducated'. There are 
loads of docs and howtos on pbuilder.

g) Huh?  It keeps a tar.gz somewhere. How's that unfragmenting.

h) I call 'pbuilder update' once a day in a terminal window next to the one
where I call 'wajig auto-download' to update my testing system. If that is extra
work for you. I don't call that (pressing cursor-up once or twice, really) extra
work.

Pbuilder make my life as a developer a lot easier. 

Dirk





pro 
 
> Eduard.
> 
>