ppc64el: archive qualification page

Contents

  1. ppc64el: archive qualification page
    1. Questions for new architectures
      1. Are machines available to buy for the general public?
      2. Is full source available?
      3. Is this architecture related to other architectures already in the archive, or that also should be considered, either now or in the future? Can the related architectures be supported in a single architecture (eg, with a biarch arrangement)?
      4. Are there 3 or more developers (or NMs) actively maintaining the port? Who are they?
      5. What sort of architecture is this? Desktop/workstation? Mainframe/supercomputer? Embedded? Something else?
      6. Does it have any users? If a desktop system, are there Debian admins who run Debian systems on the arch? If an embedded system are there real systems shipping that a Debian port will be useful for? If a mainframe system are there real systems with many users that a Debian port will be useful for? Who are they?
      7. Is there kernel and toolchain support? At what level? Are the latest versions supported, or are legacy releases required for compatability with some hardware?
      8. Has the ABI stabilised, or are there major ABI changes coming up? Is the ABI stable enough to ensure users will be able just "apt-get dist-upgrade" from one version to the next?
      9. How do you install a system? (URL to a HOWTO)
      10. Has a buildd been setup? How much of the archive has been built (count by source package, builds of old versions are fine for this case)?
      11. What hardware is potentially available as a fast buildd?
      12. Is there an example box developers can login to to see if it works?
      13. It's also worth considering whether the port has any special requirements. If the port is mainly for embedded systems, it may be appropriate to have different installation or release arrangements compared to normal desktop/workstation architectures.
    2. Further questions for OSes
      1. Are there existing comprehensive free distributions of this OS? If so, why is a Debian distribution useful?
      2. What demonstrable benefits does this OS have over existing Debian OSes?
      3. Does this system have a standard Unix API?
      4. Does the OS support modern glibc and gcc?
      5. What is the license on the kernel and core libraries? Is the license free? Is the license GPL compatible? (Note that if it's not free, distributing the software violates the Social Contract; and if it's not GPL compatible, GPL software such as dpkg can't be linked to it)
      6. Does the OS build largely without source changes? If so, what proportion of the archive has built?

Questions for new architectures

Are machines available to buy for the general public?

Is full source available?

Are there 3 or more developers (or NMs) actively maintaining the port? Who are they?

What sort of architecture is this? Desktop/workstation? Mainframe/supercomputer? Embedded? Something else?

Does it have any users? If a desktop system, are there Debian admins who run Debian systems on the arch? If an embedded system are there real systems shipping that a Debian port will be useful for? If a mainframe system are there real systems with many users that a Debian port will be useful for? Who are they?

Is there kernel and toolchain support? At what level? Are the latest versions supported, or are legacy releases required for compatability with some hardware?

Has the ABI stabilised, or are there major ABI changes coming up? Is the ABI stable enough to ensure users will be able just "apt-get dist-upgrade" from one version to the next?

How do you install a system? (URL to a HOWTO)

Has a buildd been setup? How much of the archive has been built (count by source package, builds of old versions are fine for this case)?

What hardware is potentially available as a fast buildd?

Is there an example box developers can login to to see if it works?

It's also worth considering whether the port has any special requirements. If the port is mainly for embedded systems, it may be appropriate to have different installation or release arrangements compared to normal desktop/workstation architectures.

Further questions for OSes

Are there existing comprehensive free distributions of this OS? If so, why is a Debian distribution useful?

What demonstrable benefits does this OS have over existing Debian OSes?

Does this system have a standard Unix API?

Does the OS support modern glibc and gcc?

What is the license on the kernel and core libraries? Is the license free? Is the license GPL compatible? (Note that if it's not free, distributing the software violates the Social Contract; and if it's not GPL compatible, GPL software such as dpkg can't be linked to it)

Does the OS build largely without source changes? If so, what proportion of the archive has built?