threads / discuss / 26126

Using overlay filesystem for "other" files idea

Subject: Using overlay filesystem for "other" files idea

## tl;dr

3 messages between Dec 22, 2010 and Dec 23, 2010.

replies: 2people: 2as markdown or json

Evgeniy Ivanov· Dec 22, 2010, 23:02 UTC · lore

Hello,

I got following idea.

If different branches seriously differ and you switch branches, then it's more likely you will loose most part of build files (e.g. when run build). Also in projects that may have some bugs in build system (e.g. buggy makefiles) there is a chance you will not get clean build environment. E.g. somebody forgot to add include file as dependency in Makefile --- oops, you're in trouble. Even without bugs in build system, some temp files are overwritten each time you run build for a custom branch.

I think using overlays for other files can help much to solve this issue. You can have git repository in regular directory (like now) and overlay fs mounted over this repository (for each branch its own overlay). Another benefit is clearing source tree after build.

What do you think, guys? If it sounds good, I could work on this, maybe even on my work.

-- 
Evgeniy Ivanov

Tomas Carnecky· Dec 23, 2010, 05:27 UTC · re: Evgeniy Ivanov · lore

Re: Using overlay filesystem for "other" files idea

  On 12/23/10 12:02 AM, Evgeniy Ivanov wrote:

Show 7 quoted lines

> Hello,
>
> I got following idea.
>
> If different branches seriously differ and you switch branches, then
> it's more likely you will loose most part of build files (e.g. when
> run build).

Use ccache.

> Also in projects that may have some bugs in build system (e.g. buggy
> makefiles) there is a chance you will not get clean build environment.
> E.g. somebody forgot to add include file as dependency in Makefile ---
> oops, you're in trouble.

Fix your Makefiles. Or run git clean, see below.

Show 8 quoted lines

> Even without bugs in build system, some temp files are overwritten
> each time you run build for a custom branch.
>
> I think using overlays for other files can help much to solve this
> issue. You can have git repository in regular directory (like now) and
> overlay fs mounted over this repository (for each branch its own
> overlay).
> Another benefit is clearing source tree after build.

git clean -dfx.

Or use two different working trees. See contrib/workdir/git-new-workdir.

tom

Evgeniy Ivanov· Dec 23, 2010, 09:53 UTC · re: Tomas Carnecky · lore

Re: Using overlay filesystem for "other" files idea

Thank you Tom, that's what I wanted.

On Thu, Dec 23, 2010 at 8:27 AM, Tomas Carnecky <tom@dbservice.com> wrote:

Show 37 quoted lines

>  On 12/23/10 12:02 AM, Evgeniy Ivanov wrote:
>>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I got following idea.
>>
>> If different branches seriously differ and you switch branches, then
>> it's more likely you will loose most part of build files (e.g. when
>> run build).
>
> Use ccache.
>>
>> Also in projects that may have some bugs in build system (e.g. buggy
>> makefiles) there is a chance you will not get clean build environment.
>> E.g. somebody forgot to add include file as dependency in Makefile ---
>> oops, you're in trouble.
>
> Fix your Makefiles. Or run git clean, see below.
>>
>> Even without bugs in build system, some temp files are overwritten
>> each time you run build for a custom branch.
>>
>> I think using overlays for other files can help much to solve this
>> issue. You can have git repository in regular directory (like now) and
>> overlay fs mounted over this repository (for each branch its own
>> overlay).
>> Another benefit is clearing source tree after build.
>
> git clean -dfx.
>
>
> Or use two different working trees. See contrib/workdir/git-new-workdir.
>
> tom
>
>
>

-- 
Evgeniy Ivanov