Difference between revisions of "User:Kr/Packaging"

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OpenOffice.org (OOo) and its derivatives are complex products. Many features, templates, configuration files, registry entries, binaries, localizations etc. need to be delivered and deployed in a reliable and platform compliant way, while giving the user broad choice regarding the particular features he wants to actually install.  
+
Todos:
 +
* Split this into multiple pages.
 +
* Add testing, testability and QA.
 +
* List the stakeholders.
 +
* Add "few deliverables as possible" goal.
 +
* Add 3rd party staff to be separated.
  
OOos growing ecosystem brings the current approach to its limits, we are currently facing a set of problems, which the below proposed solution is going to address. OOo based products need to support different platforms (Operating System / Machine Architecture) as well as different deployment systems (e.g. RPM, Debian, Ports, Solaris Packages, MS Windows Installer Service), localizations and feature sets, as well as they need to be easy to extend and maintain.
 
  
==Products==
 
A product consists of a particular set of features and localizations targeted to a particular set of platforms and installation sets, while being provided as a set of bits e.g. on CD or floppy disk or as a download.
 
  
 +
==Overview==
 +
Some clarification is needed regarding the terms to describe how to deploy, update, maintain and configure a particular software program.
  
A Product is a set of bits, e.g. an ISO image or a self extracting exe.
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===Products===
 +
A product consists of a particular set of features and localizations targeted to a particular set of platforms and deployment systems. A product is a set of bits provided by a medium such as a CD, a floppy disk or as a download. A product typically has a brand as well as predecessor and successor products and may require other products to be installed. Independent Products assembled of other (sub-) products may share these (sub-) products, even if these (sub-) products are implementation details only.
  
A product may be described by
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===Deployment===
* the source code to be used (e.g. a CVS repository and a CVS tag), this is the products '''code base''',
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As OOo is cross platform (Operating System / Machine Architecture), OOo installation sets need to integrate with different deployment systems.
* it's features, as well as the brand and the localization to be included, and the configuration used while building, this is the products '''variant''',
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* it's relationship to previous products, this may be something as "patch", "update", "respin" or "add-on", this is the products '''type''',
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* the format of its bits, e.g. "ISO image", "self extracting archive" or "APT repository", this is the products '''format'''.
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* the target platform (architecture and Operating System), e.g. Solaris Sparc, Linux x86 or Windows x64, this is the products '''platform'''.
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E.g.
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These deployment systems can be categorized as to be
SO8u9Solx86-CD = SRC680_m236, [{StarOffice}, {Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw}, {English, German}], Update-to(SO8u1), ISO, Solaris/x86
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* package oriented (such as RPM) and / or
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* product oriented (such as MS Windows Installer).
  
===Version===
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====Package Support====
Software provided to a customer typically has a version, describing timely variant. Typically older variants have smaller version the younger variants. Versions may be differentiated into '''Major''', '''Minor''' and '''Micro'''.
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Package oriented deployment systems typically lack product support, e.g. in a package oriented deployment system, the user typically only sees the deployed packages in the systems configuration and is neither able to directly see which products are represented by which packages, nor which additional features are available. To remove a particular product the user needs to find and to remove all belonging packages (sometimes even the indirectly installed packages) typically by searching the package database.
  
===Relationship===
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Package oriented deployment systems enable sharing of packages between products, allowing for re-usage of particular files or functionalities.
* No relationship -> self contained
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* Update relationship
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** update only (e.g. add-ons, localizations)
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** self contained (e.g. OOo 2.1 updating OOo 2)
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** Multi-update relationship
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*** Cross version (major / minor / micro)
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*** Cross language
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*** Cross brand
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*** Cross variant
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*** Cross platform
+
  
 +
Packages can typically be set into relationship to one another. The following are typical relationships,
 +
* one package may '''require''' on one or many another packages,
 +
* one package may '''conflict''' with one or many other packages,
 +
* one package may '''replace''' one or many other packages,
 +
* one package may '''suggest''' one or many other packages.
  
==Deployment Systems==
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Program updates may be deployed at least on a package granularity, while some deployment systems even support patch packages (packages which only contain the differences between a particular package and its successor).
As OOo is cross platform (Operating System / Machine Architecture), OOo installation sets need to integrate with different deployment systems.
+
  
Deployment systems to be supported are at least
+
====Product Support====
* MS Windows Installer Service,
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In a product oriented deployment system, the user sees the installed products in the systems configuration. Customization is typically supported by product, offering not yet installed features as well as allowing to remove the product as a whole.
* Red Hat Package Manager,
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* Debian Packages / Advanced Packaging Tool (APT),
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* Solaris Packages and
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* Mac OS X Packages.
+
  
These deployment systems can be categorized as either be
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Product based deployment systems may allow sharing of entities (e.g. files) on some level (e.g. "component", see below).
* package oriented or
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* product oriented.
+
  
===Package Based Deployment===
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Product based deployment systems typically allow to set products into predecessor / successor relationship.
In package oriented deployment systems, the user typically only sees the packages of a particular product in the systems configuration, being able to tweak a product by (de-)selecting packages only.
+
  
Package based installation allows for sharing of packages between products. Having the consequences,
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Product based deployment systems mostly only support product updates on a product level, e.g. as new products or as product patches, which may only be applied to one particular product.
* that one product may update another product, to function better,
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* that two products may conflict.
+
  
Package based installation is an opportunity!
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===Updates===
 +
Over time, new versions of products are released, providing bug fixes, additional features, usability improvements etc. During the deployment of product updates the older versions may be de-installed or altered respectively completed. Updates may be provided as dedicated products or as implicit downloads.
  
====Package Relationship====
 
In package based deployment systems, packages may relate to each other. Example relationships are
 
* depends,
 
* conflicts,
 
* replaces or
 
* suggests.
 
These relationships are often modelled more fine grained by using version numbers.
 
  
====.pkg====
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==Requirements==
====.deb/apt====
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Relations:
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* "depends"
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* "recommends"
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* "conflicts"
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* "suggests"
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* "replaces"
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* "pre-depends"
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* "breaks"
+
  
Tags:
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===Compatibility===
* "priority"
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As a product evolves, its interfaces may change in an incompatible fashion. For binary packages mostly interesting are
* "section"
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* ABI (Application Binary Interface) incompatible changes, as well as
 +
* structural incompatible changes (removed / renamed files).
  
Features:
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Some installation units try to stay compatible, expressing any change of compatibility in their version numbers, while others may change incompatible with every version.
* "manual install"
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====.rpm====
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Version numbers expressing compatibility are typically used as follows,
Relations:
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* a change in the micro version signals for bug fixes only,
* "provides"
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* a change in a minor version signals additional features,
* "requires"
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* a change in the major signals an incompatible (API / ABI etc.) change.
  
===Product Based Installation===
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The OOo productizer needs to support compatibility changes, such that different versions and derivatives may be installed without conflict side by side.
In a product oriented deployment system, the user sees the installed products in the systems configuration. Customizations are done with product specific dialougs etc.
+
  
====MS Windows Installation Service====
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===Deployment Systems===
Though not providing package granularity at installation time, MS installer provides similar functionality at product creation time (.msm).
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Deployment systems to be supported by OOo are at least
 +
* [http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372866.aspx MS Windows Installer],
 +
* [http://www.rpm.org Red Hat Package Manager],
 +
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dpkg Debian Packages]
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* Solaris Packages and
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* Mac OS X Packages.
  
Features:
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===Developers===
* installation on demand
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* advertisement ("assigning" / "publishing")
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* customization
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* patching / updating
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* usage metrics on features - automagic de-installation
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* Incorporated installations == ? "dependencies" ?
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* Resiliency
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* User / Machine wide installation
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* Installer functions (API for MSI)
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* Administrative Installation
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Links:
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* http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372866.aspx
+
 
+
====Mac OS X====
+
 
+
 
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==Requirements==
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===Development===
+
 
Support for Changes:
 
Support for Changes:
 
* updated package(s)
 
* updated package(s)
Line 126: Line 83:
  
 
===Program Management===
 
===Program Management===
In a perfect world, program management would be able to create any kind of product, only depending on business needs, not at all restricted by technical constraints.  
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In a perfect world, program management would be able to create any kind of product, only depending on business needs, not restricted by technical constraints.  
  
Program Management basically mediates between marketing / market requirements and the pool available technologies.
+
Program Management basically mediates between marketing / market requirements and the pool of available technologies.
  
==Constraints==
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Program management requires the following product relationships to be supported:
===Compatibility===
+
* No relationship -> self contained
As a product evolves, its interfaces may change in an incompatible fashion. For binary packages mostly interesting are
+
* Update relationship
* ABI (Application Binary Interface) incompatible changes, as well as
+
** update only (e.g. add-ons, localizations)
* structural incompatible changes (removed / renamed files).
+
** self contained (e.g. OOo 2.1 updating OOo 2)
 
+
** Multi-update relationship
Some installation units try to stay compatible, expressing the change of compatibility in their version numbers, while others may change incompatible with every version.
+
*** Cross version (major / minor / micro)
 
+
*** Cross language
Version numbers expressing compatibility are typically used as follows,
+
*** Cross brand
* a change in a micro keeps a unit compatible, providing bug fixes,
+
*** Cross variant
* a change in a minor keeps a unit compatible, providing additional features,
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*** Cross platform
* a change in the major shows an incompatible change.
+
 
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==Approach==
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Model "products" by setting them into
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* inheritance, respectively
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* structural
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relationship.
+
 
+
===Inheritance===
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Inheritance models a "is a" relationship. In practice that would mean, that a StarOffice 8 update 7 is an OOo 2.2.1 (respectively its basis) adding something.
+
 
+
===Example Modelling===
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<pre>
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Template Product OOo-Standard {
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  Features: writer, calc, impress, draw
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}
+
 
+
 
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Abstract Product OOo2.4 {
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  Name: OOo 2.4
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  Code-Base: SRC680m236
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  Implements: OOo-Standard
+
 
+
}
+
 
+
Product OOo2.4-ISO : OOo2.4 {
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  Name: OpenOffice 2.4
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  Format: ISO-750
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  Platform: Linux-x86, Windows-x86, Mac OS X x86
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}
+
 
+
Product OOo2.4-download-linux-x86 : OOo2.4 {
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  Name: OpenOffice 2.4
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  Format: donwload
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  Platform: Linux-x86
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}
+
 
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Product OOo2.4-download-windows-x86 : OOo2.4 {
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  Name: OpenOffice 2.4
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  Format: donwload
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  Platform: windows-x86
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}
+
 
+
Abstract Product SO8u9 : OOo2.4 {
+
  Name: StarOffice 8 update 9
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  Features: so-templates, so-fonts, so-spellchecker, so-brand
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  Updates: < StarOffice 8 u 9
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}
+
 
+
Product SO8u9-ISO : SO8u9 {
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  Name: StarOffice 8 update 9 ISO
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  Format: ISO-750
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  Platform: Linux-x86, Solaris-x86, Solaris-Sparc, Windows-x86, Mac OS X x86
+
}
+
 
+
Product SO8u9-donwload {
+
  Name: StarOffice 8 update 9 ISO
+
  Inherits: SO8u9
+
  Format: download
+
  Platform: Linux-x86
+
}
+
 
+
 
+
Abstract Product {
+
  Name: StarSuite 8 update 9
+
  Inherits: OOo 2.4
+
  Features: so-templates, so-fonts, so-spellchecker, ss-brand
+
  Updates: < StarSuite 8 u 9
+
}
+
</pre>
+
 
+
===Tooling===
+
* Comparison of Installation Sets
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* Check for conflicts
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* Creation of Installation Sets
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* Visualization
+
 
+
==Example Implementation==
+
Example Product creation for by target platform.
+
  
===Linux===
 
  
===Mac OS X===
 
  
===Solaris===
 
  
===Windows===
 
Experiments under Windows with [http://sourceforge.net/projects/wix/ WiX (Windows Installer XML)] show,
 
* that any set of products may share any number of files,
 
* that any one product may update any number of other products (basically leading to a de-installation of these other products), and
 
* that any product sharing files with other products may update any number of these shared files.
 
  
This lets me think, that Windows is as dynamic and flexible as the classic package based platforms, while providing a simpler user interface.
+
==Links==
 +
* Autopackage[http://autopackage.org/]
 +
* RPM[http://www.rpm.org]
  
;Merge Modules: "In order to avoid versioning problems, you should use always merge modules for any component or file that will be shared by multiple applications." [http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0h4bhcz3(VS.71).aspx]
 
  
====Simple Installation Set====
+
[[Category:Packaging]]

Latest revision as of 09:36, 25 January 2008

Todos:

  • Split this into multiple pages.
  • Add testing, testability and QA.
  • List the stakeholders.
  • Add "few deliverables as possible" goal.
  • Add 3rd party staff to be separated.


Overview

Some clarification is needed regarding the terms to describe how to deploy, update, maintain and configure a particular software program.

Products

A product consists of a particular set of features and localizations targeted to a particular set of platforms and deployment systems. A product is a set of bits provided by a medium such as a CD, a floppy disk or as a download. A product typically has a brand as well as predecessor and successor products and may require other products to be installed. Independent Products assembled of other (sub-) products may share these (sub-) products, even if these (sub-) products are implementation details only.

Deployment

As OOo is cross platform (Operating System / Machine Architecture), OOo installation sets need to integrate with different deployment systems.

These deployment systems can be categorized as to be

  • package oriented (such as RPM) and / or
  • product oriented (such as MS Windows Installer).

Package Support

Package oriented deployment systems typically lack product support, e.g. in a package oriented deployment system, the user typically only sees the deployed packages in the systems configuration and is neither able to directly see which products are represented by which packages, nor which additional features are available. To remove a particular product the user needs to find and to remove all belonging packages (sometimes even the indirectly installed packages) typically by searching the package database.

Package oriented deployment systems enable sharing of packages between products, allowing for re-usage of particular files or functionalities.

Packages can typically be set into relationship to one another. The following are typical relationships,

  • one package may require on one or many another packages,
  • one package may conflict with one or many other packages,
  • one package may replace one or many other packages,
  • one package may suggest one or many other packages.

Program updates may be deployed at least on a package granularity, while some deployment systems even support patch packages (packages which only contain the differences between a particular package and its successor).

Product Support

In a product oriented deployment system, the user sees the installed products in the systems configuration. Customization is typically supported by product, offering not yet installed features as well as allowing to remove the product as a whole.

Product based deployment systems may allow sharing of entities (e.g. files) on some level (e.g. "component", see below).

Product based deployment systems typically allow to set products into predecessor / successor relationship.

Product based deployment systems mostly only support product updates on a product level, e.g. as new products or as product patches, which may only be applied to one particular product.

Updates

Over time, new versions of products are released, providing bug fixes, additional features, usability improvements etc. During the deployment of product updates the older versions may be de-installed or altered respectively completed. Updates may be provided as dedicated products or as implicit downloads.


Requirements

Compatibility

As a product evolves, its interfaces may change in an incompatible fashion. For binary packages mostly interesting are

  • ABI (Application Binary Interface) incompatible changes, as well as
  • structural incompatible changes (removed / renamed files).

Some installation units try to stay compatible, expressing any change of compatibility in their version numbers, while others may change incompatible with every version.

Version numbers expressing compatibility are typically used as follows,

  • a change in the micro version signals for bug fixes only,
  • a change in a minor version signals additional features,
  • a change in the major signals an incompatible (API / ABI etc.) change.

The OOo productizer needs to support compatibility changes, such that different versions and derivatives may be installed without conflict side by side.

Deployment Systems

Deployment systems to be supported by OOo are at least

Developers

Support for Changes:

  • updated package(s)
  • (automatically) remove package(s)
  • add package(s)
  • rename package(s)
  • remove file(s)
  • add file(s)
  • move file(s)

Program Management

In a perfect world, program management would be able to create any kind of product, only depending on business needs, not restricted by technical constraints.

Program Management basically mediates between marketing / market requirements and the pool of available technologies.

Program management requires the following product relationships to be supported:

  • No relationship -> self contained
  • Update relationship
    • update only (e.g. add-ons, localizations)
    • self contained (e.g. OOo 2.1 updating OOo 2)
    • Multi-update relationship
      • Cross version (major / minor / micro)
      • Cross language
      • Cross brand
      • Cross variant
      • Cross platform



Links

Personal tools