Re: Question on the process of packge withdrawal

[Bengt Richter <bokr@bokr.com>]

On +2023-02-28 18:16:18 +0100, Simon Tournier wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On Tue, 28 Feb 2023 at 17:26, <bokr@bokr.com> wrote:
> 
> > IMO, it's a matter of storing the junk where it will not be a toxic liability
> > and nuisance, yet easily discovered by someone looking for "parts."
> 
> Well, I will not call that "junk". :-)
>

Me neither. That's what I meant to say with my
wrecked-cars-as-broken-packages anecdotal metaphor:
broken ≠ worthless :)

> IMHO, this is discoverable since it is part of the Git history of
> Guix.  The Git history of Guix also acts as an inventory.
>

I agree, the git history probably has everything in it, but for me
discovery is not so easy.

I think I need a map like openstreetmap, that on a high level could
show a map of software component boundaries instead of city plots,
and alternate views showing e.g. dependencies as roads between
warehouses/packages.

Obviously, related collections of things would cluster on map representations,
and interaction could pop up synopses and descriptions and urls etc -- like
what happens finding your way to the right bar in Brussels ;-)

How about a street-view drive along thread executions from power on
to login? Zoom in for detail data from dmesg or sytemctl -b or straces?

How about a drive into gnome-control-center?
With trip-planning how to get there and back from various contexts,
showing zoomable detail from high level widget thumbnails or
down to the lowest gdb run step.

Well QGIS is free/libre UIAM, but it is BIG.
And BIG means a LOT to trust, and that worries me.

Maybe good software maps could make reviewing and verifying easier,
until it's all automated. But how can we verify the automation?
(isn't there an old Latin saying about guarding guard dogs :)

I am not sure how the database of software maps would have to be
represented. What would be analogous to satellite photography and automatic
vectorization of roads and river boundaries etc.?

Actually, maybe a game engine would be better than GIS.
Super Bughunter Tomb Raider avatars ;-)
Yeah, that sounds like more fun. VRML?

Well, that's a big fantasy about "discovery" :)

Hm, how to get that running as native RISC-V code on open silicon? ;-)

> Cheers,
> simon
--
Regards,
Bengt Richter