Re: Be prepared for the fall of systemd

[Jan Bramkamp <crest@rlwinm.de>]

On 04.08.22 11:09, Tanuj Bagaria wrote:
> What do we as a community need to do
>   to get S6 into a "corporate friendly" state?
>
> What can I do to help?
>
>
> Here are some ideas:
> - easier access to the VCS (git, pijul, etc)

I would not (yet) consider pijul common and stable enough to count 
toward that goal. I would recommend we accept that git is the 
established default VCS for *nix software development for the 
foreseeable future.

Each skaware software project has:

   * Its own git repository at 
https://git.skarnet.org/cgi-bin/cgit.cgi/$project (with plaintext 
read-only access at git://git.skarnet.org/$project as well)

   * A GitHub mirror are at https://github.com/skarnet/$project.

A list of the existing projects is hosted at https://skarnet.org/software/.

> - Issue tracking system
The the per project mirror GitHub issue trackers aren't disabled and 
used occasionally, but their use is discouraged [1] (at least for 
support). Unless someone has a better idea I would recommend using them 
at least for bug tracking. Here the biggest problem I expect is a drain 
on Laurent Bercot's time and the biggest help would be for someone to 
moderate and classify the reports to save preserve developer time. A 
useful moderator would have to know their technical limitations (when to 
bump an issue to a developer for further analysis), engage with human 
users so the project feels "alive" for lack of a better word, help 
reporters improve their issues to they point they become actionable, tag 
and assign the issues correctly. Such a post  would require dedication 
and perseverance in the face or repetitive, thankless work. It would 
neither require a deep understanding of the implementation nor are most 
developers a good fit it. It requires its own skillset.
> - CI/CD build chain (being careful not to make it too painful to use)
Running post-commit s6 and s6-rc regression tests (that don't exist to 
the best of my knowledge) on several platforms would be enough for cover 
most of it.
> - "idiot proof" website

The website is idiot proof in the sense that idiots bounce of it without 
wasting anyone's time, but their own. It also provides a reference/man 
page style documentation with a few pages explaining one concepts that 
could be collected to be easier to discover.

> - quick start / getting started guide
> - easier access (better?) Documentation

That's exactly what missing in my opinion: an introduction/tutorial 
style documentation to bring down the *very* steep learning curve. It 
should further explain how the concepts fit together back-referencing 
how they've already been applied in the tutorials.

Enough mechanisms are in place in s6 and s6-rc implement most (sane) 
policies. The big missing quality of life feature is a safe frontend 
making dynamic reconfiguration easier. This feature is work in progress 
[2] and development can probably be accelerated a great deal by throwing 
enough money at Laurent Bercot enabling him to dedicate more of his time 
to completing it [3].

[1]: https://github.com/skarnet/s6/issues/31#issuecomment-1079312762

[2]: https://skarnet.org/software/s6-frontend

[3]: https://skarnet.com/projects/service-manager.html