path: root/docs/superpowers/plans/2026-07-04-buildsystem-page.md

# Package buildsystem page — Implementation Plan

> **For agentic workers:** REQUIRED SUB-SKILL: Use superpowers:subagent-driven-development (recommended) or superpowers:executing-plans to implement this plan task-by-task. Steps use checkbox (`- [ ]`) syntax for tracking.

**Goal:** Add a bilingual (EN/IT) Slackware project page, "Package buildsystem", that narrates the whole slackware64-current build pipeline and links out to the tools that compose it.

**Architecture:** Reuses the existing Slackware project-page schema (front-matter + freeform markdown, filename-inferred thumbnail/header images, `[menus.main]` under the `slackware` parent). Content-only change: no templates, no new Tailwind classes, no CSS rebuild. Pipeline-narrative body in 9 sections. Two crop-derived images per language folder.

**Tech Stack:** Hugo (extended), markdown content, ImageMagick for image crops.

**Design spec:** `docs/superpowers/specs/2026-07-04-buildsystem-page-design.md`

**Reference page (match its voice/conventions):** `content/en/slackware/mkhint/index.md`

---

## File Structure

- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md` — English page (front-matter + body)
- Create: `content/it/slackware/buildsystem/index.md` — Italian page (translated body, same structure)
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg` — 900x600, 3:2, hub row image
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg` — 1920x480, wide banner
- Create: `content/it/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg` — copy of EN thumbnail
- Create: `content/it/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg` — copy of EN header
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/buildsystem-flow.svg` — pipeline flowchart (theme palette + fonts)
- Create: `content/it/slackware/buildsystem/buildsystem-flow.svg` — copy of EN SVG

Image source: `/usr/share/wallpapers/cyan-02-1600x900.png`. Flowchart derived
from the approved artifact design (theme purple/green, Oxanium/JetBrains
Mono/IBM Plex Sans), self-contained dark panel so it reads on both page themes.
Displayed via the existing `image` shortcode (plain `<img>` wrapper), placed
right after the intro paragraph, before `## The VM`.

All work on `master` in the content repo (no theme submodule change). Small/medium content change → work directly on master per project workflow.

---

## Task 1: Create the two image crops

**Files:**
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg`
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg`

- [ ] **Step 1: Make the target directory**

```bash
cd /home/danix/Programming/GIT/danix.xyz-hacker-theme
mkdir -p content/en/slackware/buildsystem content/it/slackware/buildsystem
```

- [ ] **Step 2: Crop the 3:2 thumbnail (900x600)**

Source is 1600x900. `-resize` to cover 900x600 then center-crop with `-gravity center -extent`.

```bash
convert /usr/share/wallpapers/cyan-02-1600x900.png \
  -resize 900x600^ -gravity center -extent 900x600 -quality 88 \
  content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg
```

- [ ] **Step 3: Crop the wide header (1920x480)**

```bash
convert /usr/share/wallpapers/cyan-02-1600x900.png \
  -resize 1920x480^ -gravity center -extent 1920x480 -quality 88 \
  content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg
```

- [ ] **Step 4: Verify dimensions**

Run: `identify content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg`
Expected: `... JPEG 900x600 ...` and `... JPEG 1920x480 ...`

- [ ] **Step 5: Copy images into the IT folder (identical crops)**

```bash
cp content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg content/it/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg
cp content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg     content/it/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg
```

- [ ] **Step 6: Commit the images**

```bash
git add content/en/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg content/en/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg \
        content/it/slackware/buildsystem/thumbnail.jpg content/it/slackware/buildsystem/header.jpg
git commit -m "content: add buildsystem page images (cyan-02 crop)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>"
```

---

## Task 2: Write the English page

**Files:**
- Create: `content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md`

- [ ] **Step 1: Write the full English page**

Write exactly this file:

````markdown
+++
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.

## 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.

## Building

The actual building is done by
[slackrepo](https://idlemoor.github.io/slackrepo/), an automated SlackBuild
builder for Slackware. 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.

## 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.

## 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.

{{< 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." >}}
````

- [ ] **Step 2: Build the site and verify no errors**

Run: `hugo --quiet --gc`
Expected: exit code 0, no ZgotmplZ or template warnings for the new page.

- [ ] **Step 3: Confirm the page and its images are generated**

Run: `ls public/slackware/buildsystem/`
Expected: `index.html`, `thumbnail.jpg`, `header.jpg` present.

- [ ] **Step 4: Commit the English page**

```bash
git add content/en/slackware/buildsystem/index.md
git commit -m "content: add English Package buildsystem page

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>"
```

---

## Task 3: Write the Italian page

**Files:**
- Create: `content/it/slackware/buildsystem/index.md`

Same structure and section order as the English page. `title` stays "Package
buildsystem" (proper noun for the system); `[menus.main]` block is identical
(same literal `name`, `parent`, `weight` so the submenu entry is shared). Body is
translated. No em dashes. Keep every link and the `actions` shortcode identical to
the EN page.

- [ ] **Step 1: Write the full Italian page**

Write exactly this file:

````markdown
+++
title    = "Package buildsystem"
tagline  = "Come costruisco e pubblico il mio repository personale di pacchetti per slackware64-current."
status   = "active"
tags     = ["slackware", "slackrepo", "packaging", "buildsystem"]

[menus.main]
  name   = "buildsystem"
  parent = "slackware"
  weight = 20
+++

I miei pacchetti Slackware personali per **slackware64-current** sono costruiti da
una piccola pipeline di strumenti che gira dentro un'unica macchina virtuale QEMU
dedicata. Niente qui è un singolo programma: c'è un repository che viene
riassemblato, uno strato di dipendenze che viene corretto, un builder che
trasforma gli SlackBuild in pacchetti e un passo di pubblicazione che li mette
online su [packages.danix.xyz](https://packages.danix.xyz). Questa pagina segue
l'intero flusso nell'ordine in cui una build avviene davvero.

## La VM

Il buildsystem vive in una macchina virtuale QEMU che esegue
**slackware64-current**, tenuta aggiornata con `slackpkg` da un mirror locale dei
pacchetti di sistema di Slackware. Ha 8 core CPU e circa 8 GB di RAM, abbastanza
per compilare comodamente tutti i pacchetti tranne i più pesanti, e vi accedo via
SSH. Tenerla in una VM dedicata fa sì che una build, una dipendenza rotta o una
rigenerazione completa del repository non tocchino mai la mia macchina di tutti i
giorni: quella scatola esiste per essere martellata e, se serve, buttata via e
ricostruita.

## Assemblare il repository

Una volta a settimana l'albero degli SlackBuild viene rigenerato da zero. Parte
come clone degli [slackbuilds di Ponce](https://github.com/Ponce/slackbuilds) sul
branch `current`, l'albero della community che segue SlackBuilds.org su
slackware-current. Sopra vi sovrappongo le mie due collezioni come git subtree
compressi: [my-slackbuilds](https://github.com/danixland/my-slackbuilds) per i
pacchetti personali generici e
[Slackware-Pentesting-Suite](https://github.com/danixland/Slackware-Pentesting-Suite)
per gli strumenti di sicurezza.

Dove un pacchetto personale condivide il nome con uno upstream, la copia upstream
viene *oscurata*: la sua directory viene rimossa perché vinca la mia versione. Il
risultato è un unico albero locale che è SBo standard più le mie aggiunte, pronto
per la build. Tutto questo assemblaggio è uno script, che avrà una sua pagina qui
più avanti.

## Il problema delle dipendenze su -current

Gli SlackBuild di SBo puntano a Slackware **stable**, quindi alcune delle loro
dipendenze di compilazione sono inutili su -current, che le fornisce già come
pacchetti di sistema o in versioni più recenti. `rust-opt` e `google-go-lang` sono
tipiche: servono su stable, sono superflue su -current. Queste dipendenze
"fantasma" costringerebbero altrimenti a ricompilazioni inutili.

slackrepo rimuove una dipendenza da un pacchetto con un hint file per pacchetto che
contiene `DELREQUIRES`, ma scriverne uno a mano per ogni pacchetto interessato
dopo ogni rigenerazione settimanale è proprio la noia di cui uno script dovrebbe
farsi carico. Quel compito spetta a [mkhint](/slackware/mkhint/): il suo sweep `-F`
legge una lista di dipendenze fantasma e, per ogni pacchetto le cui dipendenze ne
toccano una, scrive o unisce il `DELREQUIRES` giusto in tutto l'albero appena
ricostruito, in un solo passaggio.

## La build

La compilazione vera e propria è affidata a
[slackrepo](https://idlemoor.github.io/slackrepo/), un builder automatico di
SlackBuild per Slackware. Compila ogni pacchetto e le sue dipendenze in un chroot
pulito, segue le revisioni git upstream per capire cosa è cambiato e va
ricostruito, e produce un repository che si aggancia direttamente a `slackpkg+`.
Lo eseguo con un hook iniziale che prima ribasa il mio albero di SlackBuild su
upstream, così ogni build parte da un albero aggiornato, e gestisce l'ordine delle
dipendenze in modo che un singolo comando ricostruisca tutto ciò che si è mosso.

## Pubblicazione

Quando una build finisce, subentra una catena di hook finali di slackrepo.
Rigenerano i metadati del repository per `slackpkg+`, costruiscono il frontend HTML
a tema per il sito dei pacchetti, sincronizzano il risultato sul server live e
inviano una notifica di fine esecuzione. Il frontend avvolge il semplice autoindex
delle directory di Apache in un header e un footer a tema, così
[packages.danix.xyz](https://packages.danix.xyz) si legge come un vero repository e
non come un nudo elenco di file. Anche quel frontend è un suo piccolo progetto e
avrà una pagina qui più avanti.

## Test contro 15.0 stable

Alcuni dei pacchetti che scrivo sono destinati a essere proposti a monte su
SlackBuilds.org, che punta a Slackware **stable**, non a -current. Dato che tutto
il mio buildsystem è -current, il fatto che un pacchetto compili bene qui non dice
nulla su 15.0. Prima di proporne uno, lo testo con uno strumento separato e
indipendente pensato esattamente per questo: risolve localmente l'albero delle
dipendenze dello SlackBuild, poi costruisce e installa ogni pacchetto in un chroot
overlay usa e getta stratificato su una base Slackware 15.0 pulita e in sola
lettura. Così emerge lo scostamento tra -current e 15.0 che una build su -current
nasconde.

Non tocca né guida slackrepo, e i pacchetti che produce sono usa e getta: l'unica
domanda a cui risponde è "compila ancora pulito su 15.0". Un limite da segnalare:
condivide il kernel dell'host, quindi i pacchetti che costruiscono moduli del
kernel vogliono comunque una vera VM 15.0. Anche questo strumento avrà la sua
pagina qui col tempo.

## Il ritmo settimanale

Messo insieme, la settimana è un unico ciclo ripetibile: rigenerare l'albero degli
SlackBuild, spazzare gli hint delle dipendenze fantasma con `mkhint -F`, costruire
e pubblicare con slackrepo e i suoi hook e, per tutto ciò che è diretto a
SlackBuilds.org, testarlo prima contro una base 15.0 pulita. Quattro piccoli
strumenti, ciascuno che fa bene un solo lavoro, e una VM usa e getta in cui
eseguirli. Molto Slackware.

{{< actions use="repo" url="https://packages.danix.xyz" desc="Sfoglia il repository dei pacchetti" caption="Tutto ciò che il buildsystem produce finisce qui. Se usi slackware64-current, puoi puntarci slackpkg+ e tirare dentro i miei pacchetti direttamente." >}}
````

- [ ] **Step 2: Build the site and verify no errors**

Run: `hugo --quiet --gc`
Expected: exit code 0.

- [ ] **Step 3: Confirm the IT page and images are generated**

Run: `ls public/it/slackware/buildsystem/`
Expected: `index.html`, `thumbnail.jpg`, `header.jpg` present.

- [ ] **Step 4: Commit the Italian page**

```bash
git add content/it/slackware/buildsystem/index.md
git commit -m "content: add Italian Package buildsystem page

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>"
```

---

## Task 4: Live review

**Files:** none (review only).

- [ ] **Step 1: Start the Hugo dev server**

```bash
hugo server -D
```

- [ ] **Step 2: Check each surface in the browser**

Verify, in both languages:
- Hub row: `http://localhost:1313/slackware/` and `/it/slackware/` — the
  buildsystem row appears with its thumbnail (not the mono-glyph fallback), tagline,
  and green `active` status badge.
- Single page: `/slackware/buildsystem/` and `/it/slackware/buildsystem/` — the
  header banner renders above the title, all nine sections read correctly, every
  link resolves (mkhint page link, the three GitHub repos, slackrepo, and
  packages.danix.xyz), and the `actions` CTA renders.
- Submenu: the top nav "Slackware" submenu shows the new "buildsystem" entry
  alongside "hintfiles helper" and "Packages", and keyboard tabbing into it works.
- Tag pages: `/tags/buildsystem/` exists and lists the page.

- [ ] **Step 3: Stop the server**

Ctrl-C.

- [ ] **Step 4: Report findings to the user and wait**

Do not ship. Summarize what the review showed and hand back to the user for the
go/no-go on deployment (deployment is a separate, user-approved step per the
project git workflow).

---

## Deployment (only after user approval)

Not a plan task. When the user approves shipping, follow the project workflow:
push `master`, then `git checkout production && git merge master && git push origin production`,
and verify the live URLs return 200. The post-receive hook clones the theme and
builds; no submodule bump is needed since the theme is unchanged.

---

## Self-Review

**Spec coverage:**
- Placement/schema (spec §"Placement and schema") → Task 2/3 front-matter + file paths. ✓
- Front-matter fields, no `repo_url`, weight 20 (spec §"Placement") → Task 2/3 front-matter. ✓
- Images from cyan-02, dimensions, both langs (spec §"Images") → Task 1. ✓
- Cross-reference policy: mkhint linked, slackrepo_setup/sbo-batch-tester/repo-html-structure named as future pages (not linked), slackrepo + 3 GitHub repos linked, packages.danix.xyz linked, manage-packages.sh omitted (spec §"Cross-reference policy") → Task 2/3 body. ✓
- 9-section pipeline body (spec §"Body structure") → Task 2/3, all sections present in order. ✓ (Note: spec named section 7 "Testing against 15.0"; both pages use that scope and framing — only my own SBo-bound packages.)
- VM section states cores + RAM, no hostnames/paths (spec §correction) → Task 2/3 "The VM". ✓
- No em dashes (spec §"Style constraints") → checked: bodies use commas/colons only. ✓
- Content-only, no CSS rebuild, hugo --gc exits 0 (spec §"Build / ship flow") → Task 2/3 build steps, Task 4 review. ✓

**Placeholder scan:** No TBD/TODO left. The CTA `use`/`url` are concrete (`use="repo"`, `url="https://packages.danix.xyz"`). ✓

**Type consistency:** Front-matter keys, menu block, image filenames, and link URLs are identical across Task 2 (EN) and Task 3 (IT). ✓