[yocto] Embedded Linux Package Management

[Paul Eggleton]

On Friday 20 March 2015 11:26:43 Alex J Lennon wrote:
> On 20/03/2015 11:15, Prasant J wrote:
> > On Fri, Mar 20, 2015 at 2:21 PM, Alex J Lennon
> > 
> > <ajlennon at dynamicdevices.co.uk> wrote:
> >> On 20/03/2015 09:34, Prasant J wrote:
> >> 
> >> Hi,
> >> 
> >> I'm looking for package management for my embedded linux systems
> >> (yocto on armv7 iMX6Q)
> >> 
> >> 
> >> I'm looking for the following features:
> >> 
> >> (a) Install & remove a package
> >> (b) Install packages and its dependencies
> >> (c) Install a package with conflicts, such that the conflicting
> >> package is force removed
> >> (d) A local location with packages should serve as a package source
> >> (e) Remote server package (http file server based)
> >> (f) List of my packages installed
> >> (g) List of my packages not installed but available on the http file
> >> server
> >> (h) List of my packages that have updates (new version)
> >> (i) To be able to manage packages for multiple architectures (eg. rpm
> >> can produce packages for multiple architectures using one spec file)
> >> 
> >> 
> >> The above features will be invoked by the application GUI.
> >> Any suggestions: which package management solution would answer all
> >> the above use cases?
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> (e) I use smart + RPM. I have a remote package server setup via this in
> >> local.conf
> >> 
> >> FEED_DEPLOYDIR_BASE_URI = "http://packages.foo.bar"
> >> 
> >> Then I'm rsyncing the files up to the server after a bitbake
> >> package-index.
> >> 
> >> Then smart update / search / install
> >> 
> >> That seems to work well in my testing.
> > 
> > Hi Alex,
> > 
> > Thanks for inputs!
> > 
> > Is smart development stopped?
> > 
> > When I look at their mailing list it, the last posts were in Nov 2014.
> > It looks like no more development for smart package manager. I would
> > then tend to say that it will not be a right way for me.
> 
> I don't know. To me the question would be does it do want I need it to
> do as well as I need it to do it,
> rather than asking whether there is a lot of activity. One might take
> the view that if it is doing its job,
> a lack of activity is a sign that it's a mature piece of software that
> needs little further development.
> 
> You'll have to make that decision yourself.
> 
> My understanding is that smart is the recommended way to do things (at
> least it was what was
> recommended to me) - https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/Smart

FYI, here is some of the thinking that led to the decision to use smart:

https://lists.yoctoproject.org/pipermail/yocto/2012-October/010384.html

Of course that was a few years ago now - we probably ought to look at the RPM 
landscape again (e.g. DNF) and see if any change is warranted.

Cheers,
Paul

-- 

Paul Eggleton
Intel Open Source Technology Centre