Bug#907829: p4est: FTBFS on single CPU machines (?)

[Adrian Bunk]

On Mon, Sep 03, 2018 at 01:22:47AM +0200, Santiago Vila wrote:
>...
> This single-CPU thing has been discussed before and the bugs have
> never stopped being serious:
> 
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2017/02/msg00380.html
>...

Do you have a statement from a member of the release team saying so?

>...
> Ok, my autobuilder is not one of buildd.debian.org. So what? Packages
> *must* be buildable on any system where Debian itself runs (provided
> there is enough RAM and disk), i.e. on any autobuilder which is not
> misconfigured. Having a single CPU does not count as a "misconfiguration".

It is completely arbitrary if you want to define that requiring any
amount of RAM or disk usage is fine, but a similar requirement for 
the number of CPUs must not happen.

> Nothing else, like CPU speed, number of CPUs, instruction set above
> the baseline amd64, etc. should be assumed or taken for granted
> "just because buildd.debian.org is that way".
> 
> Otherwise the package will have a hidden and undeclared
> "build-depends: buildd.debian.org" (so to speak), and I would consider
> such build restriction completely unacceptable.
>
> No, we don't follow "de-facto standards", we just follow standards,
> and so far we have not formally declared single-cpu systems as "unsuitable
> for building" (by way of general resolution or by policy).
>...

What packages actually follow is "builds on the buildds".

We don't need a GR to formally declare that
- some packages don't build with only 1 CPU,
- some packages don't build with only 8 GB RAM
- some packages don't build with only 70 GB storage

>...
> And no, single-cpu is not exotic. You are only considering physical
> machines, but there is a whole world of virtualization out there where
> you can still choose the number of CPUs in the system, and single-cpu
> is still cheaper (and I guess it will still be for a long time).

Yes, but that usually also limits the amount of RAM
and you are fine with packages using any amount of that.

The machine you want to enable to build all packages would
have the following specs:
- 1 CPU
- 16 GB RAM
- 75 GB storage

This is an insane configuration.

Also notice that the "75 GB storage" is exactly the amount provisioned 
today on the amd64 buildds, there are packages that have workarounds for 
being able to build on the buildds with only 75 GB storage - and won't 
build with even less.

Don't get me wrong, a package not building on a machine with 1 CPU
is a bug that should be reported.

But trying to enforce to be able to build every single package in the 
archive on single-CPU machines is something that strikes me as a huge
waste of time - we have so many far more relevant bugs that should
be debugged and fixed before that.

> Thanks.

cu
Adrian

-- 

       "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
        of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
       "Only a promise," Lao Er said.
                                       Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed