diff options
| author | Danilo M. <danix@danix.xyz> | 2026-07-04 11:00:53 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Danilo M. <danix@danix.xyz> | 2026-07-04 11:00:53 +0200 |
| commit | 5a5526ad352230bf29722d25eda6a7cbbc326d85 (patch) | |
| tree | 50e91f414e5a5e72a2ece4ebe445d240e713a80b /content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md | |
| parent | e3d8e2682301f801b69cb8d55bdd8c60d5fa8962 (diff) | |
| download | danixxyz-master.tar.gz danixxyz-master.zip | |
content: add Package buildsystem Slackware pageHEADrelease_04072026-1101productionmaster
New bilingual system/architecture page narrating the whole
slackware64-current build pipeline: the QEMU VM, repo assembly
(slackrepo_setup), the phantom-dep hint layer (mkhint), building
(slackrepo, aclemons fork), publishing (finish hooks +
pkgs-html-structure), and the separate 15.0 stable-testing safety
net (sbo-batch-tester). Includes a theme-styled SVG pipeline
flowchart, three inline repo CTAs, and a closing sign-off.
Menu entry under the Slackware parent (weight 20). Spec and plan
updated to match.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md | 121 |
1 files changed, 121 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md b/content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9db3f14 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,121 @@ ++++ +title = "Package buildsystem" +tagline = "How I build and publish my personal slackware64-current package repository." +status = "active" +tags = ["slackware", "slackrepo", "packaging", "buildsystem"] + +[menus.main] + name = "buildsystem" + parent = "slackware" + weight = 20 ++++ + +My personal Slackware packages for **slackware64-current** are built by a small +pipeline of tools running inside one dedicated QEMU virtual machine. Nothing here +is a single program: it is a repository that gets reassembled, a dependency layer +that gets patched, a builder that turns SlackBuilds into packages, and a +publishing step that puts them online at +[packages.danix.xyz](https://packages.danix.xyz). This page walks the whole flow +in the order a build actually happens. + +{{< image src="buildsystem-flow.svg" alt="Flowchart of the package buildsystem: assemble the repo with slackrepo_setup, fix -current dependencies with mkhint, build with slackrepo, and publish through the finish hooks, with a separate green side path for testing on Slackware 15.0 stable before submitting to SBo." caption="The pipeline end to end. The green side path is the 15.0 stable test, run only for packages headed to SlackBuilds.org." />}} + +## The VM + +The buildsystem lives in a QEMU virtual machine running **slackware64-current**, +kept up to date with `slackpkg` against a local mirror of Slackware's own system +packages. It has 8 CPU cores and around 8 GB of RAM, enough to build all but the +heaviest packages comfortably, and I reach it over SSH. Keeping it in its own VM +means a build, a broken dependency, or a full repository regeneration never +touches my daily driver: the box exists to be hammered and, if needed, thrown +away and rebuilt. + +## Assembling the repository + +Once a week the SlackBuilds tree is regenerated from scratch. It starts as a +clone of [Ponce's slackbuilds](https://github.com/Ponce/slackbuilds) checked out +on the `current` branch, the community tree that tracks SlackBuilds.org against +slackware-current. On top of that I overlay my own two collections as squashed +git subtrees: [my-slackbuilds](https://github.com/danixland/my-slackbuilds) for +general personal packages and +[Slackware-Pentesting-Suite](https://github.com/danixland/Slackware-Pentesting-Suite) +for security tooling. + +Where a personal package shares a name with an upstream one, the upstream copy is +*shadowed*: its directory is removed so my version wins. The result is a single +local tree that is standard SBo plus my additions, ready to build. That whole +assembly is one script, which will get its own page here later. + +## The -current dependency problem + +SBo SlackBuilds target Slackware **stable**, so some of their build-time +dependencies are unnecessary on -current, which already ships them as system +packages or newer versions. `rust-opt` and `google-go-lang` are typical: needed +on stable, pointless on -current. These "phantom" dependencies would otherwise +force needless rebuilds. + +slackrepo strips a dependency from a package with a per-package hint file carrying +`DELREQUIRES`, but writing one by hand for every affected package after each +weekly regeneration is exactly the tedium a script should own. That job belongs to +[mkhint](/slackware/mkhint/): its `-F` sweep reads a list of phantom deps and, for +every package whose requirements hit one, writes or merges the right +`DELREQUIRES` across the freshly rebuilt tree in a single pass. + +{{< actions use="repo" url="https://git.danix.xyz/mkhintfile/" desc="Read the mkhint source" caption="Curious how the phantom-dep sweep actually works? The whole thing is one Bash script." >}} + +## Building + +The actual building is done by +[slackrepo](https://github.com/aclemons/slackrepo), an automated SlackBuild +builder for Slackware, now maintained by Andrew Clemons. It compiles each package and its dependencies in a clean +chroot, tracks upstream git revisions to work out what has changed and needs +rebuilding, and produces a repository that plugs straight into `slackpkg+`. I run +it with a start hook that first rebases my SlackBuilds tree onto upstream, so +every build starts from a current tree, and it handles the dependency ordering so +a single command rebuilds everything that moved. + +## Publishing + +When a build finishes, a chain of slackrepo finish hooks takes over. They +regenerate the `slackpkg+` repository metadata, build the styled HTML frontend for +the package site, sync the result out to the live server, and send a notification +that the run is done. The frontend wraps Apache's plain directory autoindex in a +themed header and footer so [packages.danix.xyz](https://packages.danix.xyz) reads +as a proper repository rather than a bare file listing. That frontend is its own +small project and will get a page here later too. + +{{< actions use="repo" url="https://git.danix.xyz/pkgs-html-structure/" desc="See the frontend generator" caption="It is mostly a shell hook that walks the package tree and writes the header and footer HTML. Have a look under the hood." >}} + +## Testing against 15.0 stable + +Some of the packages I write are meant to be submitted upstream to +SlackBuilds.org, which targets Slackware **stable**, not -current. Since my whole +buildsystem is -current, a package building fine here proves nothing about 15.0. +Before I submit one, I test it with a separate, independent tool built for exactly +that: it resolves the SlackBuild's dependency tree locally, then builds and +installs every package in a fresh disposable overlay chroot layered over a clean, +read-only Slackware 15.0 base. That catches the current-versus-15.0 drift a +-current build hides. + +It does not touch or drive slackrepo, and its built packages are throwaway: the +only question it answers is "does this still build clean on 15.0". One limit worth +naming: it shares the host kernel, so packages that build kernel modules still +want a real 15.0 VM. This tool will also get its own page here in time. + +{{< actions use="repo" url="https://git.danix.xyz/sbo-batch-tester/" desc="Browse sbo-batch-tester" caption="The overlay-chroot and dependency-resolution logic live here if you want to read how the 15.0 test is built." >}} + +## The weekly rhythm + +Put together, the week is one repeatable cycle: regenerate the SlackBuilds tree, +sweep the phantom-dependency hints with `mkhint -F`, build and publish with +slackrepo and its hooks, and, for anything headed to SlackBuilds.org, spot-test it +against a clean 15.0 base first. Four small tools, each doing one job well, and a +disposable VM to run them in. Very Slackware. + +I hope you found this walk through my buildsystem interesting. If you end up +running something similar, or you have questions, ideas, or suggestions about any +piece of it, drop me a line and I will gladly get in touch. + +See you next time. + +{{< actions use="repo" url="https://packages.danix.xyz" desc="Browse the package repository" caption="Everything the buildsystem produces lands here. If you run slackware64-current, you can point slackpkg+ at it and pull my packages straight in." >}} |
