[Scummvm-devel] About announcing backend changes & build machine

[Joost Peters]

Sounds like a good idea to me.
I'd be happy to set up the PSP toolchain and required libraries on such 
a machine, should it ever materialize.

Regards,
Joost


Max Horn schreef:
> Hi folks,
> 
> we have so many ports, yet so few porters. Whenever I or somebody  
> make a change to the backends API, that often causes backends to  
> break. Either the compilation breaks, or the functionality (in a  
> sense, the latter is worse, because it can go unnoticed).
> 
> In the past, we (esp. me) often still made those changes, and did not  
> always inform porters actively about this. That was and is bad. So,  
> for the future, we'll try to be a bit more vocal about such changes.  
> They'll still happen, though: Our philosophy there really is a bit  
> similar to the Linux kernel one, where we prefer to replace bad APIs  
> by better ones instead of trying to follow the compatibility road  
> like Microsoft does. (Note that this is not meant to imply either  
> approach is "better", both have their pros and cons).
> However, we will try to notify porters more actively about changes  
> they may have to make and why, and even warn them a bit beforehand if  
> possible. I am not yet quite sure how that will work, but we'll try  
> our best.
> 
> One problem with at least keeping ports compiling is that it's  
> difficult for most of us to test that, as not all of us have all the  
> required (cross) compilers setup.
> 
> So, wouldn't it be cool if we had a build server on which we setup  
> cross compile chains for as many systems as we can?
> 
> This would allow multiple things:
> * Generate automatic daily builds for all these platforms (with some  
> extra work, the resulting binaries need to be "packaged) after all)
> * a nice build status web page (like e.g. <http://www.kegel.com/ 
> crosstool/crosstool-0.43/buildlogs/>)
> * optionally, a "trigger rebuild now" feature, which one can use to  
> get an immediate build test (password protected, of course).
> 
> For this, it would be really nice if all porters could take something  
> like 15 minutes and add at least some minimal information about how  
> their port is built to <http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/ 
> Compiling_ScummVM> (I am serious about those 15 minutes -- just write  
> down some keywords, naming the tools you use and maybe an URL. Of  
> course you are welcome to write more if you feel like it :).
> 
> 
> Still, as I understand it, with a suitable (Linux?) machine, that  
> could include
> * Linux (and other UNIX systems) (see e.g. <http://www.kegel.com/ 
> crosstool/>),
> * Windows <http://www.wxwidgets.org/docs/technote/crosscmp.htm>
> * WinCE <http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Compiling_ScummVM/Windows_CE>
> * Dreamcast <http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Compiling_ScummVM/ 
> Dreamcast>
> * Playstation Portable <http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/ 
> Compiling_ScummVM/PlayStation_Portable>
> * iPhone <http://wiki.scummvm.org/index.php/Compiling_ScummVM/iPhone>
> 
> And maybe also these (but I know not enough about how they are  
> built): GP2x, Nintendo DS, Playstation 2, SymbianOS, Maemo,  
> XBox360... Potentially helpful: devkitPro <http://www.devkitpro.org/>  
> which apparently is used by the DS port.
> 
> I have no idea how the PalmOS port is built. The Symbian port  
> contains build instructions in its README (somebody volunteering to  
> put them into the Wiki?) note that the link to the Symbian SDK in it  
> is outdated), but I am not sure whether it can be built under Linux  
> (but see also <http://www.symbian.com/developer/techlib/v9.2docs/ 
> doc_source/faqsdk/faq_0956.html>).
> 
> Still, even if can only build some ports, it would already be a big  
> improvement
> 
> 
> Things required for this:
> * Getting a server: should not be a major issue: we have some money,  
> and maybe we can even find a sponsor for this.
> * Setting it up: This would probably require some help from the resp.  
> porters (at least to test the build chains, ideally also to help  
> setting them up).
> * Maintain it: If a porter switches to a new tool chain, we'll have  
> to update, but my hope is that otherwise, this machine would not  
> require that much maintenance, and that we could find some members of  
> the team willing to have an eye on it.
> 
> Thoughts, comments, remarks, criticism, volunteers,... ? :-)
> 
> 
> Bye,
> Max
> 
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