Bug#565308: MariaDB in Debian proper?
Lionel Elie Mamane <lionel@mamane.lu> writes:
> On Tue, Feb 09, 2010 at 10:40:59PM +0100, Kristian Nielsen wrote:
>> Some additional information that might be useful:
>
>> - apt-able repositories of MariaDB are available from http://ourdelta.org/
>
>> - Package scripts for .deb are maintained on Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/ourdelta
>
>> I can provide further information on the packaging scripts on request.
>
> I started to look into MariaDB; I was considering inclusion of MariaDB
> in Debian proper, and to this effect was wondering:
>
> 1) Does the ourdelta team judge the packaging mature enough for that
> inclusion, or does it need more work?
I think it is certainly mature enough. We have been building packages for 18
month or so, and they are integrated in our daily build system with both
builds and install+upgrade testing. And after all, they are based closely on
the existing MySQL Debian packages, which are quite mature.
The main issue that needs solving is to let MySQL and MariaDB packages
co-exist in the same repository. Since MariaDB is essentially a different
version of MySQL, we need a way for users to select which of the two
alternatives they want. With current packaging, users choose by adding (or not
adding) the MariaDB repository, and if they add it, MariaDB packages replace
any corresponding MySQL packages.
With the current packages in Debian, it is not possible to solve this
satisfactorily (as far as I know). The problem is that there are other
packages that have versioned "depends:" on MySQL packages, eg.
libdbd-mysql-perl on libmysqlclient15off. So it is not possible for MariaDB to
satisfy this dependency with a "provides:", even though MariaDB does include
an alternative libmysqlclient.so.
What has been discussed is to solve this by introducing virtual packages for
libmysqlclient15off and similar packages; these would then depend: on
mysql-xxx|mariadb-xxx packages. This requires changes to MySQL packages as
well as to MariaDB packages.
> 2) If a package for MariaDB based on the ourdelta packages gets
> uploaded into Debian proper, how does the ourdelta team see
> cooperation there?
>
> Would ourdelta become the maintainers of the Debian package
> (within Debian), or would you rather see it as a cooperation
> between ourdelta and a separate (but possibly overlapping in
> composisition) Debian team? In any of these cases, I'm considering
> getting involved.
I think either could work. We in MariaDB are mostly developers rather than
packagers, so it might make sense to coorperate with a separate team. More
Debian experience would only help integrate the packages better with the rest
of Debian. But we are certainly willing to help out, including doing the work
of developing and maintaining the packages should that be needed.
> As far as uploading to Debian is concerned, the workflow could
> look something like:
>
> * Any team member can commit to the vcs repository, even if not
> having Debian Developer status.
>
> * Each upload to Debian has to be vetted by a Debian Developer
> (from the team).
It sounds reasonable, though I am not sufficiently familiar with Debian
development to really understand the issue and possibilities.
> 3) What is the Debian MySQL maintainers team take on this? Would it
> in some way like to take care of MariaDB, too?
If they are interested and have the time, it would certainly make sense that
they are involved. MariaDB packaging is very close to MySQL packaging, and
such involvement could help both to maintain consistency between the packaging
of the two, as well as with the seamless integration with respect to user's
choice between them.
> It is naturally too late for inclusion in Squeeze (Debian 6.0), but
> aiming for the release after that should be doable.
Sounds good!
- Kristian.
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