We just released an updated version of CSWpkgget that deprecates the pkg-get tool and pulls in pkgutil.  As many sites will have automation built around pkg-get, it is still possible to use the tool but steps will be required to do so.  Going forward, pkgutil is the supported OpenCSW package management tool.  All automation should be converted to use pkgutil.

The full announcement is in the CSW Users list archive.  The announcement includes details on how to continue using pkg-get if required.

As Solaris 9 has now entered the Vintage/Extended support phase, future package updates and new packages will be done on a best effort basis. Each maintainer will be able to decide whether supporting Solaris 9 is something they are willing or able to do.

We apologize if this causes you any inconvenience.

(the original announcement is on the users mailing list)

We’ve added a good amount of automation to the package release workflow over the last few months. Along with this, the release branches that you might know from previous years (“stable”, “current”, and “unstable”) have been slightly adjusted. Time for everyone not yet familiar with the changes to catch up.

“unstable” is still the place for the most recent packages, that’s where we intially upload packages. “current” on the other hand now offers a middle ground. It points to “testing“, a branch which receives staggered package updates from “unstable”. Finally, “stable” is officially deprecated – which it de-facto was for quite some time now. You can still use it, but it is very old and won’t see updates. As a replacement for “stable” we’ve started to work on something called named releases. More on that in due time.

To sum it up in a picture

What’s next?

There’s still a bunch to do. Automating the “unstable” -> “testing” workflow, propagating the substantial backlog of updates from “unstable”, and getting a named release out of the door are among the main ones. In the meantime, the “Release Branches” page has been updated and the branches “unstable” and “testing” are your friends. Any questions? Let us know.

After the change of the way packages get published, we’re announcing a new signing key. They key ID is 9306CC77, and it is available from our mirrors page and pgp.mit.edu.

We just wrapped up a vote on the adoption of a new release process.  The results were in favour of adopting the proposal.

The result of this is that we’re going to steer our internal release processes toward as much automation as possible.  Although there are many details to sort out yet, we think that the new process will result in a much nicer work flow without sacrificing package quality.

Yesterday, Philip Brown and BenWalton had the privilege of representing OpenCSW on FLOSS Weekly with Randal Schwartz and Simon Phipps.  The  session (podcast audio and video) is now available for download.  It was an interesting and enjoyable experience.  I hope that more people will check us out after hearing the show.  Thanks for having us Randal!

There’s an upcoming talk on Friday, the 18th of February, in Dublin, Ireland. Dagobert Michelsen will give a presentation about creating Solaris packages with mGAR. There will also be a Q&A session and pub afterwards. The event is free.

Update: The slides are now online as PDF and HTML/JPEG.

Hello Fellow Maintainers,

Last week, a new board was elected by the OpenCSW membership. The
results of this election saw Ihsan Dogan, Maciej Blizinski and Ben Walton
elected. After some discussion, the board roles have been assigned as
follows:

President: Ben Walton
Treasurer: Ihsan Dogan
Secretary: Maciej Blizinski

We are all excited about this new chapter in OpenCSW and look forward
to serving both the user and maintainer communities.

Thank you.
Ben, Maciej and Ihsan

During the annual meeting last weekend the OpenCSW association members elected a new board for the OpenCSW project. The purpose of the board is to represent the association legally, to guide the project, and to make final decisions on technical discussions if necessary. We are looking forward to a year with the new board members and their ideas and would very much like to thank the previous board members for their contribution. Stay tuned!