[Live-demo] More ideas on collaborative development

Tue Aug 25 17:40:56 PDT 2009

Hey,

Even though I completely agree that it is desirable to have processes in
place that automatize generating the VM/LiveDVD, I'm afraid writing
scripts and setting these processes up shouldn't be our main focus atm.

In the revised schedule (can you guys check if the schedule is ok?) for
the FOSS4G-LiveDVD-schedule the feature freeze is Friday next week. 1
week later is the beta release, again a week later the final freeze and
finally the ISO has to be ready for printing on the 20. September. So
it's very tight.

The 2 things we should get done very soon are sorting out the sync issue
and deciding on the features we want to have on the DVD.

I had a quick look at Unison and Dropbox. Both seem to be worth a try,
Dropbox seems to be a bit more simple to use (maybe it only seemed
easier because they have comic-like explanation of how it works...).
Ricardo, do you have already a Dropbox account? If not can you create
one, put the VM.7z in it and I will then try to access it?

Ricardo, I haven't had time to check out the new version of the VM you
gave us (hopefully I get around to do that tonight or tomorrow), so I
don't know what's already on it. Do you have a list with all installed
(geo-)apps? And what else were you planning to install? Cameron, do you
know which projects expressed interest on being on the LiveDVD? For
which apps/projects do we have/can we get in time additional material
such as examples, documentation, etc?

regards,
stefan

Cameron Shorter wrote:
> Ricardo Pinho wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>>
>>> 1. Write install scripts for each application, and put these scripts into subversion:
>>> I suggest we create bash install scripts for each application we want on the LiveDVD.
>>> These scripts will contain all the steps necessary to install a project.
>>> Ie, we would have one script for geoserver, one for mapserver, one for qgis, etc.
>>>
>> R1.
>> I agree, but it's more easily said then done... ;-)
>> Because some steps are not easily implemented with scripts. (at least for me!)
>> I'm thinking about config editing, for example...
>>
> Noted. There may still be some manual steps which we need to implement,
> but I suspect that we can update many of to the scripts with "sed" or
> "awk" or "perl" depending upon your preference.
> I'm prepared to help out on some of these, if you can provide me with a
> list of config files which need to be changed.
>
> I've started building the scripts at:
> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/livedvd/gisvm/
>
> Not much in the directory yet, about from a template for filling in
> other scripts, and a README.
> I'm interested to hear feedback as to whether you think this will work.
>
> The key here is that all a project like geoserver needs to do to get
> their project onto gisvm is to write a bash script (geoserver.sh) which
> covers all the installation steps.
>
> Over time, we can probably incorporate these bash scripts into build files.
>
>>
>>> 2. Xubuntu:
>>> I suggest that we use Xubuntu as a basis for the
>>>
>> GISVM instead of Ubuntu,
>>
> Great, I see that the latest gisvm you created is using Xubuntu.
>
>>> as it is specifically designed to run on a low
>>>
>> powered environment,
>>
>>> but still runs all the Ubuntu packages.
>>>
>> R2.
>> I agree, no dough about it! ;-)
>>
>>
>>
>>> 3. Wiki pages:
>>> There are a few too many LiveDVD wiki pages,
>>> which makes it hard for a newbie to find out what is current,
>>> and what is not.
>>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Live-demo
>>> ...
>>> I suggest that we consolidate down to a few pages,
>>>
>> R3.
>> I agree! Not very skilled on wiki, but I will do my best! (I'm a fast learner!!!)
>>
> It is quite easy, you will be up to speed in 5 minutes. Just copy
> existing text formatting, or click on the formatting help.
>> And who can take the first step into consolidation?
>>
> I've already started, and have merged a couple of pages together yesterday.
>
>> I suppose we will use wiki to discuss and propose changes to it.
>> Or shell we use this mailling list (Live-Demo)?
>>
> I think we should discuss proposals on this email list, and use the wiki
> to describe "how to build gisvm and the arramagong livedvd, and what the
> projects are all about, and how to get involved etc".
>
> Basically, use the wiki to describe the project as it currently stands,
> and how to get involved.
>>
>>> 4. Central VM, which we rsync from:
>>> As mentioned earlier, I think
>>>
>> that we should set up a central virtual machine,
>>
>>> probably on OSGeo
>>>
>> hardware, which we can all rsync from in order to
>>
>>> collaboratively
>>>
>> update the same virtual machine.
>>
>> R4.
>> This is THE big issue! If we use virtual disks files (vmdk), they are 4 GB long...
>>
>> I'm available for trying rsync with GISVM vmdk files. I've already made one available for Stefan...
>> Please configure it on the OSGeo box, asap...
>>
>> But I must also suggest:
>>
>> a) Amazon S3 engine! Very powerfull and speedy service. But a Payed one!
>>
>> b) Drobox, a free and multiplataform sync engine (limited to 2-3 GB, for free)
>> If we 7zip the vmdk file we probably can reduce it under 2 GB...
>>
> I've thinking about focusing on this second, after seeing if we can set
> up the bash install scripts.
>
> Hamish recommended "Unison", which I looked into last night. It is a
> browser based wrapper over rsync.
>
> With regards to the synchronisation load, we can configure Unison (on
> gisvm) to synchronise from a set of directories. Symbolic links seem to
> be handled, which is good.
>
> Is there a limited set of directories in the GISVM that need to be
> updated? If so, we can just sync them (and use Drobox as you suggest).
>> Other suggestions and opinions are welcome...
>> And you can count on me!
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Ricardo Pinho
>> http://gisvm.com
>>
>>
>> ----- Mensagem original ----
>> De: Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com>
>> Para: live-demo at lists.osgeo.org
>> Enviadas: Domingo, 23 de Agosto de 2009 23:41:17
>> Assunto: [Live-demo] More ideas on collaborative development
>>
>> I've been thinking hard about recent comments from Hamish, Massimo, Richardo and Stefan in relation to collaborative development of GISVM and LiveDVD. I've also been looking over the wiki pages and svn scripts and the GISVM to see what has been done already. After sleeping on this for a few nights, I wonder what people think about the following ideas:
>>
>> 1. Write install scripts for each application, and put these scripts into subversion:
>>
>> I suggest we create bash install scripts for each application we want on the LiveDVD. These scripts will contain all the steps necessary to install a project. Ie, we would have one script for geoserver, one for mapserver, one for qgis, etc.
>>
>> I notice that Massimo is part way here, having written the installation steps into the wiki at:
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/GFOSS.it_Live_DVD_Install
>>
>> Stefan has created a similar wiki at:
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/LISAsoft-LiveCD_process
>> Stefan has also been collecting these steps into scripts stored in subversion:
>> https://svn.osgeo.org/osgeo/livedvd/scripts/trunk/LiveDVDFromScratch/
>>
>> The key points here is:
>> * Community engagement: It would be straight forward for projects to write their own installation scripts. They can write them, then copy into svn, then let one of the VM team members apply to the latest virtual machine.
>> * The scripts will be kept under version control. (Following on from a comment from Hamish about the value of svn)
>> * If a .deb file exists for a project, all the better. The install script will just be one line long.
>> * These scripts could be integrated into a greater build script as we progress.
>> * I expect these bash scripts would eventually become the basis of a .deb file?
>>
>> 2. Xubuntu:
>> I suggest that we use Xubuntu as a basis for the GISVM instead of Ubuntu, as it is specifically designed to run on a low powered environment, but still runs all the Ubuntu packages.
>>
>> 3. Wiki pages:
>> There are a few too many LiveDVD wiki pages, which makes it hard for a newbie to find out what is current, and what is not.
>> http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Category:Live-demo
>> I suggest that we consolidate down to a few pages, removing content from some pages and just providing a pointer to more recent pages.
>>
>> 4. Central VM, which we rsync from:
>> As mentioned earlier, I think that we should set up a central virtual machine, probably on OSGeo hardware, which we can all rsync from in order to collaboratively update the same virtual machine.
>>
>> I'm interested to hear feedback on this, and I'd like to help out on some of these tasks, if they are considered worth following.
>>
>> -- Cameron Shorter
>> Geospatial Systems Architect
>> Tel: +61 (0)2 8570 5050
>> Mob: +61 (0)419 142 254
>>
>> Think Globally, Fix Locally
>> Geospatial Solutions enhanced with Open Standards and Open Source
>> http://www.lisasoft.com
>>
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>> Live-demo at lists.osgeo.org
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/live-demo
>>
>>
>>       ____________________________________________________________________________________
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>>
>
>

--
Stefan Hansen
Software Engineer
LISAsoft

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