[Pkg-samba-maint] on build system variations in Samba (was: Re: talloc packaging as an example of multi-pyversions package)

[Andrew Bartlett]

On Sat, 2022-04-09 at 21:57 +0300, Michael Tokarev wrote:
> Hi.
> 
> I tried to experiment with building multiple-pyversion library out
> of samba packages, using talloc as an example.  This is due to the
> current python transition mess.

> Samba definitely should grow an ability to build in a subdir, at the
> very least, instead of requiring copying the source, - it is trivial
> to implement, by passing "out" and "out_dir" properties for certain
> objects in there.

The challenge is that for every different build option (and yes, I just
suggested adding one) we need a test, and to include that test in CI in
perpetuity (costing $$$ or at least adding complexity to an existing
job), and every developer to have to cope with that also. 

This quickly overwhelms the 'it would be nice if cool situation X
worked', sadly.

We have seen in this project so far the cost of the subtle variations
that are already 'supported', but we should try and move in the
opposite direction where possible, to having fewer, but all known
working, possible build configurations.

(I've actively worked to strip down the number of supported --with-*
options in Samba, to focus on major modes at the expense of say --with-
krb5 but --without-ldap). 

Andrew Bartlett

-- 
Andrew Bartlett (he/him)       https://samba.org/~abartlet/
Samba Team Member (since 2001) https://samba.org
Samba Team Lead, Catalyst IT   https://catalyst.net.nz/services/samba

Samba Development and Support, Catalyst IT - Expert Open Source
Solutions