Debian package manager under Solaris
Fulcrum have an install-base that needs to be run on a number of
different machines on various sites, running anything from SunOS 4.x
all the way to Solaris 2.7 (nee SunOS 5.7) ... it's reasonably large
and at the moment it's a pain for our Operations group to keep all the
hosts up-to-date with the particular versions on each of the sites (long
story, trust me), and we've had problems in the past were the install on
a host wasn't the same as any of the others (again, a long story)
So, we're looking to put it all in a packaging environment and use
appropriate tools to manage it in a controlled manner ... we are also
looking at putting our install-base on other *nix platforms in the
future (Linux, BSD, HP etc) as well, so we'd prefer to compile/hack on
something which would cover any *nix variant with a minimum of fuss and
steer clear of any proprietory packaging systems ... we'd also like to
keep away from the system package management tools for the simple reason
that this install-base is intended to have minimal impact on and minimal
support requirements from the host that it is installed into.
There is little point in Fulcrum creating such a tool from scratch,
since the Open Source community appears to have done a lot of homework
in this regard ... I'm also keen to see that any development work that
we undertake be useful to others as well as ourselves and intend to feed
any development outcomes back to the Open Source community.
In researching this, many people have commented that they would also
find a portable custom package management tool to be immensely useful.
I picked the Debian package set mainly because I have more familiarity
with it - I've been using Debian on my systems at home for the last two
years approximately - and most if not all of our requirements are more
than amply met by the system.
Before Fulcrum undertakes any serious porting work, I'd like to know if
there have been any other efforts to port the Debian package toolset
to a wider range of *nix variants, other than Linux, BSD and the HURD?
Should I be talking to anyone in particular? Are there other tools about
that I might not be aware of?
Regards,
Malcolm Herbert
--
/\ The Fulcrum Consulting Group Malcolm Herbert - Consultant
/\O\ Professional Services For Operation Malcolm.Herbert@fulcrum.com.au
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