Re: master.debian.org updating scripts, &c

[Bdale Garbee <bdale@gag.com>]

Hmmm.  First, let's review a bit:

  - the machine that currently holds the ftp.debian.org alias at cmich is
    greatly appreciated, and I think we all hope that nothing screws up our
    ability to retain access to the facilities the folks at cmich provide.

  - the functions of managing the master distribution tree, which includes 
    developer uploads, package management by IanM, and a set of related tasks
    pertaining to mailing lists and web pages, have at times become
    frustrating because of the network load on the ftp.debian.org machine.

  - because frustrated developers aren't doing anyone any good, we wanted to
    put together a new machine that would allow splitting the development and
    management of Debian from the distribution process.  Thus my offer to
    provide and manage master.debian.org.  The vision is that this is a quiet
    and stable place where packages can be uploaded, package management can
    happen, and various automated tasks pertaining to construction of the 
    mailing list archives and the web pages can happen.  It will represent
    the source of the definitively "current" copy of the Debian distribution,
    but will not, itself, be a place for downloads to happen from... rather,
    one or two downstream "big ftp sites" will hot-mirror the master tree to
    make it available for downloading.

I feel like a bit player in all this, since I don't feel that I have any
policy-making authority on behalf of Debian.  In fact, going from a "gee, it
would be cool to play with Bruce's Debian for Hams prototype and use it for
my AMSAT satellite development work", to contributing and maintaining a few
packages, to finding myself being asked to provide and maintain the new
master.debian.org machine has all happened almost fast enough to make my head 
spin.  On the other hand, I manage a group that maintains several hundred
HP-UX and Sun workstations used for research, development, and manufacturing
on behalf of my employer, so sticking one more machine in our machine room 
and putting it on our normal backup schedules, etc., is not a big deal.

The request from Bruce/IanM was triggered by the Netscape situation on 
ftp.debian.org, but as we talked about it, I think that what really happened 
is that we all got a taste of what it might be like when a future revision 
of Debian ships and a million or more users world-wide all want to download 
it at once!  Thus, I think we're trying to address a fundamental problem with 
the structure we'd built to support the Debian development process, and not
just reacting to a current problem.

This is the situation and history of the current change as I see it.  I hope
that articulating this has helped explain what's going on to those of you
that haven't been in the loop through the whole discussion.

> Do we need special logins to upload to master.debian.org. When I try
> to upload as anonymous I get:

Package maintainers should use the login 'upload', with the password 'shipIT'
to put packages on master.debian.org.  The Incoming directory is where you
expect it to be, until/unless IanM moves it.

> Also, I and I suspect several other developers, currently mirror parts
> of ftp.debian.org. Should we point our mirrors at master.debian.org or
> stick with ftp.debian.org? is there a mirror login similar to buster -
> fsf/gnu?

I've said this a couple of times, but I guess I'll keep saying it until 
everyone understands.

You have the ability to read all of the tree using the 'upload' login.  You
do not have permission to point a mirroring tool at master.debian.org.  The
plan is for mirroring to continue to happen from ftp.debian.org, which will
itself soon become a fast mirror of master.debian.org.  

If you occasionally need to snatch a file directly from master.debian.org 
using the 'upload' login, that's not a problem, but if you point a mirror at
master, it will contribute to generating enough network traffic that we may
lose our current place on the network... so please don't do it.

There is a separate 'mirror' login that I will provide directly to the admin(s)
of the major mirror site(s) that have permission to mirror the master
machine directly.

I expect to watch the ftp logs to make sure folks are doing the right things,
and to ensure that the total network load presented to my employer's network
by the presence of master.debian.org stays under control.

Bdale