[mythtv] [mythtv-commits] Ticket #12615: Build broken on non-V4L systems

[Gary Buhrmaster]

On Sun, Jan 24, 2016 at 3:04 AM, Craig Treleaven <ctreleaven at cogeco.ca> wrote:
.....
> I actually have a machine that might fit that role…but—correct me if I’m wrong—it needs to be internet-facing, no?

A slave has to have access to the master build master,
but it can be behind NAT (it connects to the master
server and asks "Anything for me to do now"?
Anything for me to do now"?  "Anything for me
to do now"?)

> 1) I’ve only got a typical residential internet connection.  Decent bandwidth but behind NAT.

After the initial git clone (one time, and you likely do it
for your builds anyway), the network usage is mostly
just to upload stdout/err from the compile.  Not (usually)
a lot of bits.  Depending on processor (and disk) speed
it can result in some system load, but given the
development activity, that does not seem to be
really that high (we can only dream there were
hundreds of devs committing dozen of patches
every few minutes for new features and enhanced
functionality).

> 2) The computer is an older Core2Duo Mac Mini.  It cannot run the latest version of OS X and therefore has a number of security issues.  I certainly don’t want it to become a conduit to attacks on local machines that i _do_ care about.

That is likely a bigger issue.  I personally run
the buildbots I contribute to the project on a
somewhat isolated network even though I
keep them automatically maintained.  While
I trust the devs to not submit backdoor unit tests,
there is nothing equivalent to the verify step
("trust, but verify").

I guess you have one of the 2007 Core 2 Duos
that Apple has decided cannot run 64 bit (even
though the processor can) and upgrade to a
current revision.

> Viewed objectively, I already spend WAY too much time packaging and supporting Myth via MacPorts.  I’m not sure I want to open another black hole of time by commiting to keeping a buildbot running.  OTOH, I have a lot of experience with building Myth on OS X, so maybe it wouldn’t be that bad…

If you have any interest, I would discuss it
on the dev list with (likely) stuarta, who manages
the buildbot network.  Once the initial setup
happens (the "set"), it is mostly "and forget"
(the only time I think about the slaves is at the
next major OS upgrade (where I install a new
slave, and retire the old).  However, since there
is no (current) ansible script to help you, the
initial setup likely has a higher investment (but
you likely do a lot of that already with macports).

Not having a OS X buildbot slave has resulted
in cases (such as this) where something gets
missed or lost among the larger changes, and
can take longer to resolve (since no one knows
it is broken).  As you seem to be regularly
compiling and reporting issues, maybe that
is not so much of a problem.  I just prefer to
see compile coverage (a dev tends to feel
responsible for commits and compile failiures
(and have time to work on it) at the time of
the commit, and not always a few days or
a week later).

In any case, if you, or someone else, has
interest, talk to (likely) stuarta.  I know very
little about the Mac ecosystem and its
build environments.