Open Stack

On 10/31/2015 10:18 PM, Meyer, Jim wrote:
> I was reading this:
> 
> Debian dropping the Linux Standard Base [LWN.net]
> https://lwn.net/Articles/658809/
> 
> … and was struck by the parallels behind both the intent of LSB and DefCore (provide assurances around common functionality and interoperability delivered in a distro) as well as implementation (standard trails implementation, etc.). The article is a 5-10 minute read; in the comments, read the first from michaeljt; then pick up near the bottom, starting with the one by criswell, to the end.
> 
> I see two interesting ways to angles from which to view this:
> 
> 1. LSB was successful at driving convergence for 20+ years and is beginning to die out.
> 2. LSB failed to reach effectiveness in 20+ years of trying and is beginning to die out.
> 
> The case for #1 seems suspect. The article and comments, as well as the relative lack of applications which successfully adopted LSB as the primary or sole basis of specifying their dependencies, seem to indicate otherwise.
> 
> The question here: how is DefCore different, and how will we succeed where LSB failed?

LSB also went down a path of ABI compatibility, which meant that it was
specifying every symbol in every library (including graphics libraries).
The ever evolving g++ ABI at the time was ... interesting, and challenging.

It also did so with only C / C++ at a time when the application space
was dramatically evolving on Linux to non statically compiled languages.
This is an enormous surface, yet not really viable for the majority of
new applications.

OpenStack has it quite a bit easier. Our surface is JSON over HTTP. API
== ABI for us for that reason. There are semantic differences beyond
that which I'm sure we'll run into, but it's already an order of
magnitude easier. Also, the project developers are bringing an eye of
interop to their API evolution already. So I think the feedback loop
between defcore and the dev teams is more complete. The dev teams still
own the decision making process, but they are considering the defcore
implications when it happens.

	-Sean

-- 
Sean Dague
http://dague.net