Minimization Objective Status

Unresolved include directive in modules/ROOT/pages/status.adoc - include::project:dashboard:page$objectives/minimization.adoc[]

First Phase Accomplishments

See the status page for detailed info and historic weekly updates. Summary below.

Better understanding — Yes, we now have much better understanding of the problem and a better, more specific idea about the next steps.

Feedback Pipeline — A service that monitors use cases for size and dependencies. Includes various views in tables and interactive dependency graphs.

Systemd and containers — We dag into the issue of Systemd vs. containers, especially for packages requiring it just to create users in containers using systemd-sysuser. Working with upstream on splitting the package out. Thought about, but not yet proposed, a wider policy around this.

Policy thinking:

  • A - If systemd is only needed to start services, a package should only "Recommend" systemd. This will allow containers to install the package without systemd.

  • B - If a program is just using a library of systemd, only require systemd-libs. Example: libusb

  • C - If a package wants to use systemd-sysusers to create users/groups, only require systemd-sysusers. (NOTE: This subpackage isn’t implemented yet)

initial-setup — If an image is built without users, there needs to be some way to add a user at startup. initial-setup does a good job of that, but at the expense of size. It pulls in anaconda-tui and anaconda-core. Those two packages then commence to pull in alot of other, rather large, packages. This is for the IoT images, as well as others. We currently do not have a recommendation, but it is being worked on.

Use pcre2 instead of pcre — The minimization effort is trying to trim things down to just one pcre, and that is pcre2.

Polkit and mozjs60 — Let’s expain this one with a terrible analogy! Polkit is this lovely person (.5M) that rings your doorbell and says they will wash the windows of your house. After you agree, they bring out their elephant (mozjs60 30M) and use it to spray your windows with water. Polkit pulls in mozjs60, which is a rather large package. So, we’re trying to sort this one out, too.