[Bug 680107] Re: Sync bootchart2 0.12.4-2 from Debian unstable (main)

[Scott James Remnant]

So it's worth clearing up a few misconceptions about our bootchart
packages and bootchart2.

The main two differences between bootchart and bootchart2 is that
bootchart2 replaces the original Java charting component with one based
on "pybootchartgui", a Python rewrite; and that it replaces the original
shell script collector with a C one based on code I wrote at the Berlin
distro sprint.

Obviously a quick glance at *our* bootchart packages would show you that
we use neither of the original components, and in fact use the Python
charting from pybootchartgui and the C collector I wrote.  Our packages
are more like "bootchart 1.5"

There have been improvements and changes to the collector made
"upstream", but these relied on libraries and kernel features that were
only available (at least in sensible form) on Fedora at the time, so I
never merged them.

Conversely Tollef and I originally put a *LOT* of work into making "apt-
get install bootchart" _just_work_ on Ubuntu, that work was never
accepted by Debian back into the bootchart package and has never made it
into their bootchart2 package.


Thus getting bootchart2 up and running is basically a lot of work for not a huge amount of gain.  You'd quickly discover that the extra features of the collector are hard to get going and don't give a great benefit; and then you'd realise that the way Debian package it requires mucking around with the kernel command-line and replacing the init daemon with bootchart (and thus missing out on the entire initramfs).

That's why I never took the time out to do the update - it would have
been a hiatus in the boot performance work mucking around with the
charting tools, and what we have now worked well enough.


I'm not saying we shouldn't do the update, we certainly should, I'd just encourage it to be done carefully because just dropping in the Debian packages will mean all the tools and processes we have for working with bootcharts get thrown out of the window too.

-- 
Sync bootchart2 0.12.4-2 from Debian unstable (main)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/680107
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu
Package Archive Administrators, which is a direct subscriber.