[FSUG-Bangalore] Event update from last saturday

[S h i v]

Hi All,

A quick update on the hackathon event that was announced earlier (mail below).
The event happened as planned and it was fun !

What we came out with : 35 specs for softwares listed at
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/bosug/news (the page also has
the specs that were created)

We were 9 of us, of which 5 were students. Many of the participants
were first timers to posix/porting/packaging...

It was fantastic - be it the initial unexpected hiccups with
networking issues, setting up the environment or getting the first
spec file and each one of us earning our lunches and finally ending up
with a huge number of softwares available with the *build recipes* (35
to be precise) !

Thanks to all those who responded, participated and made it into a
wonderful weekend that we had....
Thanks to Lazlo Peter, the author of the spec packaging tools for
being online till 12pm(3am his time) !

Another good outcome is that few of the participants are *initiated
into contribution*.

best regards
Shiv


On 7/24/07, S h i v <shivakumar.gn at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello Blug members,
>
> Bangalore OpenSolaris User Group (BOSUG) is an active OpenSolaris user
> group that has been around since ~2years
> (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/bosug).
>
> BOSUG is organizing a Hackathon and this is a call for participation
> for the same.
>
> Here is an excellent oppurtunity to share/contribute/learn. If you are
> interested in contributing to FOSS we would like to hear from you.
>
> The announcement is also available at
> http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/bosug/events
> Any updates will be available here.
>
> Belenix(http://www.genunix.org/distributions/belenix_site) is an
> OpenSolaris based distro that some of you who participated in foss.in
> during 2005 and 2006 and took time to visit the OpenSolaris demos
> might recall. This community distro has come out of Bangalore and is
> one of most active OpenSolaris based distros.
> The hackathon has been decided based on likely future roadmap of
> Belenix (read the "Hackathon Background Information" at the end) and
> what we believe is the way OpenSolaris in general is likely to evolve.
>
> Note: Confirmations to be sent to me
> by 2-Aug for those wish to attend the tutorial and
> by 5-Aug for those who do not need the tutorial to take part in the
> hackathon (See "Participation Requirements" below).
>
> best regards
> Shiv
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Hackathon Announcement & Call for Participation
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hackathon (4-Aug & 11-Aug, 2007)
> ====================================
> Scope : Creating OpenSolaris packages from pristine sources for a huge
> set of softwares
>
> Tutorial session for the Hackathon (4-Aug 2007)
> ------------------------------------------------
> (Optional for people already familiar with Solaris packaging, pkgbuild)
> Date       : 4-Aug 2007
> Duration   : 6:00pm – 8:00pm (GMT+530)
> Scope      : Packaging howto using pkgbuild/pkgtool/rmp spec files.
>             Some required details about SVR4 packages & GNU auto tools
> Venue      : Divyashree chambers, Bangalore, INDIA
> A simple tutorial document will be provided for people participating
> from outside Bangalore (2 people have already expressed interest
> during the initial planning stage of this event)
>
> Those who are interested to attend the tutorial but unable to
> participate in the hackathon may contact me offline.
>
> The Hackathon (11-Aug 2007)
> ----------------------------
> Date       : 11-Aug 2007
> Duration   : 10am – 4:30pm (GMT+530)
> Scope      : Creating OpenSolaris packages from pristine sources for a
> huge set of softwares(see details below)
> Venue      : Divyashree chambers, Bangalore, INDIA
>
> People outside Bangalore need to have a good net connection and come
> online. Details will be provided later.
> Deadline for participation confirmation:
>
> Send your confirmations to shivakumar dot gn at gmail dot com
>
> * Those who need the tutorial to be able to participate should confirm
> their participation by 2-Aug
> * Those who are already familiar with Solaris packaging,pkgbuild & GNU
> autotools may confirm their participation by 5-Aug
>
> The number of participants that we can accomodate is limited by the
> infrastructure that can be provided. Hence earlier you confirm the
> better are your chances of getting the opportunity to participate !
>
> People who have good net facility and are located outside Bangalore
> can also participate.
>
> Participation Requirements
> ===========================
> Enthusiasm to share/contribute/learn/teach is the primary requirement!
>
> Additionally one or more of these skills is expected
>    * A good familiarity with Solaris or Linux shell environment
>    * Shell scripting
>    * Authoring/debugging Makefiles
>    * GNU Autotools
>    * Authoring of rpm spec files (creating rpm packages)
>
> (Note that those who will be attending the tutorial session will
> satisfy most of the requirements)
>
> Infrastructure
> ================
> Participants are expected to bring their own laptops
>
> A small set of systems to accomodate ~6 people will also be available
> for those who are unable to arrange for a system of their own The
> source code for a huge set softwares will be available on a LAN
>
> For people who get their own systems but donot have Solaris Express
> installed on their systems,
>
>    * VMware image of Solaris Express will be available that can be
> used on their systems for the event. In this case a minimum of 1GB RAM
> is recommended for the laptop.
>    * A server will be available to offload their laptop contents to
> make for disk space on their systems (if necessary)
>
>
> ** Lunch will be arranged at the venue **
>
> Hackathon Background Information
> ==================================
> Belenix is one of very active OpenSolaris distro around. It is nearing
> 2 years of existence. It currently does not have packaging support.
> This is intended to be included in one of the future releases.
>
> Once packaging support is available the huge bunch of softwares need
> to be made available in the form of SVR4 packages. The SFE (rpm spec
> file like) based approach is well suited for this.
>
> The number of build/package recipes currently available for
> OpenSolaris is limited (~250).
>
> These 2 were the triggers to organise a hackthon that can deliver
> multiple benefits:
>
>    * Provides an opportunity for people desirous of contributing to
> FOSS projects
>    * OpenSolaris distros get build/packaging recipes in the form of
> rpm like spec files
>    * Many people become familiar with OpenSolaris development
> platform and will be in a position to contribute
>    * Authors of FOSS softwares for Linux/Windows will be able to
> recognize some of the areas to consider to make their softwares build
> across multiple platforms
>
> The current list of softwares in Belenix will be the starting point to
> identify the set of softwares for which packaging support will be
> provided
>
> Hackathon discussions are happening
> at "bosug discussion
> list"(http://www.opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?threadID=34609&tstart=0)
> and
> at belenix-discuss mailing list
> (http://mail.opensolaris.org/pipermail/belenix-discuss/2007-July/000031.html)
>
> Feel free to pitch in.
>