[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

D-I Beta 3 - release planning



(Please reply only to debian-boot; reply-to set accordingly; add other 
recipients only selectively)

Now that linux-2.6.16 has safely landed in testing a few days ago, we can 
really start working on the Beta 3 release of D-I. In fact, the migration 
of most udebs to testing is already in progress.

The release preparation page on the wiki [1] is mostly up-to-date with 
regards to issues and TODO items before the release.
The page also lists the changes implemented since Beta 2 which will be 
used as basis for the release-notes; let me know if you miss items.

One important TODO item is updates to debian-cd, especially for 
architectures that are dropping 2.4 support in d-i. If your architecture 
needs such changes, please contact me. Joey and Steve can probably help 
with the changes where needed.


D-I memory usage
================
One of the main issues with this release is increased memory usage. For 
some arches this is proving critical as e.g. 32 or 64 MB boundaries are 
crossed. Problems have already been seen on arm and m68k.
When compared with the Sarge release, there are three main causes:
- integration of base-config into first stage (extra udebs use extra
  memory)
- added crypto support in partman (partman-crypto pulls in ~2.5 MB in
  dependencies; new for Beta 3)
  After Beta 3 a change is planned for partman-crypto so it will not pull
  in all its dependencies until it is actually used.
- added languages: the templates.dat file has doubled in size and
  on top of that cdebconf loads the whole file into memory, so the
  increase hits double (blame bubulle and his endless quest for new
  languages to support ;-) This is the main culprit.
  We really need a technical solution to reduce current memory usage and
  the impact of adding translations, but that will probably be post-Etch.

All this does mean that the current lowmem levels need serious review for 
all architectures. The good news is that memory requirement for a "bare" 
install (lowmem level 2) looks be hardly changed.


Release planning
================
24    Jul  Upload new release of installation-guide
25/26 Jul  Most udebs should have migrated to testing
25-29 Jul  Implement necessary changes in debian-cd
           Other TODO items
26    Jul  First build and upload of d-i, check for unexpected build
           errors; fix and reupload where needed
27-30 Jul  Basic testing using daily images
29    Jul  Last chance to upload udebs for inclusion in intrds
30    Jul  Testbuild of weekly images (using d-i images from unstable)
 1    Aug  Final upload of d-i images
 2- 5 Aug  Testing
 2    Aug  Last chance to upload udebs not included in initrds
 4- 6 Aug  Preparation of release notes, errata, etc.
 5    Aug  Migration of d-i to testing
 6    Aug  CD builds
 7    Aug  Release

There is some slack in this planning, but not much. Some slippage would 
not be unexpected. A lot depends on the speed with which the BYHAND 
processing of the d-i uploads can take place and whether build errors 
occur.

Porters (and others) are of course requested to test installations and 
note the results in [2].

Cheers,
FJP

[1] http://wiki.debian.org/DebianInstaller/EtchBeta3Prep
[2] installer/doc/devel/release-checklist

Attachment: pgpk6RTya3lv4.pgp
Description: PGP signature


Reply to: