dev/pkg/opkg: New file

1 files changed, 87 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/dev/pkg/opkg.mdwn b/dev/pkg/opkg.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd50a8d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev/pkg/opkg.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+[[!meta title="Opkg in ProteanOS"]]
+
+Background
+==========
+
+ProteanOS uses [opkg][opkg] to manage packages after installation with
+[[prokit|dev/prokit]].  opkg has a long history through different umbrella
+projects and maintainers.  After [more than three years since the 0.1.8
+release][pbarker-maint], regular releases were resumed in August and September
+of 2013 with the [0.2.x series][0.2.x-NEWS].  [Starting in December,
+2013][yocto-move], development of opkg was moved from Google Code to
+infrastructure of the Yocto Project, a project of the Linux Foundation that also
+serves as a home for BitBake, OpenEmbedded, and Poky.
+
+[opkg]: https://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/opkg/tree/README
+[pbarker-maint]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=topic/opkg-devel/R_yo9Qj1eZI
+[0.2.x-NEWS]: https://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/opkg/log/NEWS?h=opkg-0.2.x
+[yocto-move]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=topic/opkg-devel/gjQG7Qv1cQU
+
+The Growing Lightweight Package Management System
+=================================================
+
+Development has continued in the 0.3.x series.  Multiple maintainers and
+contributors have added various bugfixes, new features, and architectural
+improvements to make opkg a more modern and maintainable codebase.
+
+For a long time, opkg had an embedded copy of BusyBox's libbb for reading
+archives (as packages supported by opkg are doubly nested archive files).  This
+copy of libbb had grown
+[[stale_and_heavily_patched|dev/todo/removing-libbb-from-opkg]].  Finally, [in
+2013/2014][drop-libbbb-git], libbb was [replaced][add-libarchive] with
+[libarchive][libarchive].  This removed a large amount of old code from opkg,
+however it added a dependency on a large library that was never designed with
+the code size restraints of embedded systems in mind.
+
+And in August, 2015, support for external dependency solver libraries was added,
+so as to remove additional complexity from opkg and leave dependency solving to
+another project.  Unfortunately, this also [pulls][solver] in
+[another][solver-patch] large [library][oe-pw-libsolv], openSUSE's [libsolv][libsolv].  As of now, this
+dependency is still optional, and the original internal solver can still be
+used.  However, the current maintainer has [indicated][libsolv-focus] that the
+internal solver will eventually be deprecated.
+
+[drop-libbb-git]: https://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/opkg/log/?id=04015d5
+[add-libarchive]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=topic/opkg-devel/HYBBK8YeazI
+[libarchive]: https://www.libarchive.org/
+[solver]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=msg/opkg-devel/r4qbmhjbSNo/YH7cCjRtIQAJ
+[solver-patch]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=msg/opkg-devel/bCtXIGQpvoM/PE_Pbi07IwAJ
+[oe-pw-libsolv]: https://patchwork.openembedded.org/patch/137903/
+[libsolv]: https://github.com/openSUSE/libsolv
+[libsolv-focus]: https://groups.google.com/forum/?_escaped_fragment_=msg/opkg-devel/ZI1e5tmGcjM/w-1LFw4LCAAJ
+
+The Future of the Past
+======================
+
+ProteanOS currently [still uses][pro-opkg-cl] the 0.2.x series.  The increasing
+size of modern opkg (starting with the 0.3.x series) and its dependencies makes
+it increasingly unsuitable for small system distributions like ProteanOS.  We
+will need to find a solution going forward.
+
+[OpenWrt][owrt] and [libreCMC][lcmc] use [a version][opkg-owrt-lcmc] between
+0.1.8 and 0.2.0 with [numerous local patches][owrt-patches].  LEDE
+[switched][lede-switch] their [opkg package][lede-pkgdata] to [their own
+fork][lede-fork].
+
+LEDE actively maintains their opkg fork and backports changes from upstream.
+This may be the best and easiest option for ProteanOS, although there are a
+couple of minor problems:
+
+ 1. It still has [libbb][lede-opkg-libbb], and
+ 2. It pulls in a new, but small, dependency: LEDE's [libubox][lede-libubox].
+
+Note also that the original Autoconf/Automake-based build system was
+[removed][lede-opkg-at] and [replaced][lede-opkg-cm] with CMake.
+
+[pro-opkg-cl]: http://git.proteanos.com/pkg/opkg.git/tree/changelog
+[owrt]: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/blob/4e47861/package/system/opkg/Makefile#L14
+[lcmc]: https://gogs.librecmc.org/libreCMC/libreCMC/src/ae523302b1506e48f8448454c5f8904ad415c524/package/system/opkg/Makefile#L19
+[opkg-owrt-lcmc]: http://git.yoctoproject.org/cgit/cgit.cgi/opkg/log/?id=9c97d5e
+[owrt-patches]: https://github.com/openwrt/openwrt/tree/4e47861/package/system/opkg/patches
+[lede-switch]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=source.git;a=commit;h=5aa97e3
+[lede-pkgdata]: https://lede-project.org/packages/pkgdata/opkg
+[lede-fork]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=project/opkg-lede.git
+[lede-opkg-libbb]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=project/opkg-lede.git;a=tree;f=libbb
+[lede-libubox]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=project/libubox.git;a=summary
+[lede-opkg-at]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=project/opkg-lede.git;a=commit;h=6215c27
+[lede-opkg-cm]: https://git.lede-project.org/?p=project/opkg-lede.git;a=commit;h=e6e6c5a