Nightly build outage, 2.27a2 and 2.27a1 Linux

[rsx11m]

I've filed bug 985964, No 2.27a2 aurora nightly builds since the last merge. Trunk nightly builds are ok, except for Linux (last successful 2.27a1 build was February 14).

Even if that is getting fixed, Linux aurora builds would need there separate fix along with trunk.

[James]

Not sure about SeaMonkey however the Aurora channel updates of Firefox were throttled as usual after the move/merge of the channels.
Bug 984631 - Disable Aurora 30 daily updates until merge to mozilla-aurora has stabilized

[rsx11m]

It's not an update issue, the builds are physically not created due to a build error (see ewong's comment). In contrast, Firefox has current aurora builds on the FTP site.

[rsx11m]

The aurora tinderbox and nightly builds are back for Windows and Mac OSX.

[rsx11m]

Linux bustage on trunk and aurora should be bug 983536, libpango version >= 1.22.0 required (plus possibly others).

[masinick]

I am particularly interested in the 2.27a1 Linux nightly builds for the 32 bit Linux platform. Ewong replied in the Seamonkey newsgroup about it, but I haven't heard any other updates. Are we close to getting any test builds for both 32 and 64 bit Linux platforms, especially the nightly builds for 2.28a1? Those are the ones that most interest me, but I'd like to see all platforms building so we can get the best possible testing included for this release.

[rsx11m]

I'm not aware of any news here, the main problem is that the Linux build boxes need an overall update of their operating system (CentOS).

[masinick]

I'm not aware of any news here, the main problem is that the Linux build boxes need an overall update of their operating system (CentOS).

At least to me, while CentOS (and it's source code parent, Red Hat Enterprise Linux) are good, solid systems, especially for server use, we've seen, (twice now, to my counting) breakages in the builds, and both times the build breakages have been due to some missing or out of date library.

Don't know if anyone would consider this or not, but what about setting up a Debian Testing build server? Debian Testing runs as a rolling release. You can update it as often as you want, but generally updating it weekly or monthly would suffice. The only possibly risky time to perform system maintenance on it is within the first two to three weeks after a major Debian stable release; right before that, updates are frozen; right after that, the gates open for changes and it can be a bit volatile then, but those times are few and far between. The rest of the time, you get a reasonably up to date, yet very stable system, either for desktop or server use. For the purposes of a development build environment, I cannot think of too many better systems from which to construct an easy to support environment. Might be worth a thought.

Meanwhile, I hope that CentOS can be updated; if it's that tough to update, that's where my questioning comes in. Bottom line is this: if the back end server that supports the builds is stable, I could care less what,== where, and how its built. But when there are two long lapses in builds within the past year, that is when I question what is being used and how it is being managed. Ultimately what I care about is getting Seamonkey Nightly regularly and consistently.

[rsx11m]

It is my understanding tat new hardware is on the horizon which would have the current CentOS version on it with all packages needed, but as long as the builders are still running on the old hardware they will only receive partial patches if at all. I don't know any further details. Also keep in mind that the release engineers are all volunteers, thus have other things to do "in real life" that may keep them from devoting more time to this issue.

[masinick]

It is my understanding tat new hardware is on the horizon which would have the current CentOS version on it with all packages needed, but as long as the builders are still running on the old hardware they will only receive partial patches if at all. I don't know any further details. Also keep in mind that the release engineers are all volunteers, thus have other things to do "in real life" that may keep them from devoting more time to this issue.

Thanks; I do understand that everyone is a volunteer, myself included. My role is to use the test software and report issues. I am eager to get regular nightly builds, but I am not bashing anyone for the amount of time it is taking, merely expressing my interest in getting something to test, and believe me, I do keenly appreciate the need to do other things in "real life", and that is one reason I am not able to do more myself.

So lest I sound unappreciative, I do want to thank everyone who has a role in setting up the systems, maintaining them, the build engineers, the software maintainers, bug fixers, testers, and also those who communicate updates. I appreciate the role that everyone has and look forward to being helpful as well in my role as a nightly build tester and user. Thanks also for the explanations; I appreciate them too!

[rsx11m]

You are welcome, no problem.

[masinick]

Any news on this front? I'd love to be able to test Seamonkey Nightly Builds on the Linux 32 bit platform again; appreciate the effort that everyone makes.

Looking forward to the next update, and hopefully Seamonkey Nightly Builds will make it back to all platforms again soon. Thanks!

[rsx11m]

Still no news. There will be another status meeting next Tuesday, April 29th, noon UTC.
It's probably still the same issue with outdated packages, don't see an ETA anywhere.

[masinick]

Still no news. There will be another status meeting next Tuesday, April 29th, noon UTC.
It's probably still the same issue with outdated packages, don't see an ETA anywhere.

Thanks for the update; obviously we have to be patient; everyone is busy, of course, and this is one of many things that are undoubtedly on the agenda. I do appreciate keeping in the loop and I do look forward to continued testing. Meanwhile, I've been keeping up with Firefox Nightlies. On the browser end, these have been looking good. Hopefully the Email side remains solid so that when the Seamonkey Suite is available in Nightly Builds once again, there are no serious changes or regressions to deal with. Again, I appreciate the update; thanks again!

[rsx11m]

Testing of Mail/News Core functionality is also done with the Thunderbird nightly builds, thus regressions hopefully caught there, but for all SeaMonkey-specific things we are currently "flying blind" given that neither the nightlies nor the tinderbox builds work...

This will definitely have to be addressed during the 2.27 beta cycle, otherwise there won't be any official 2.27 release on Linux (only 3rd-party builds from the providers).