CentOS SIG Get started with CentOS SIG

CentOS Dojo 2016, Bangalore

About Me

Contributing to various Special Interest Groups (SIG) in CentOS. RPM package maintainer in Fedora. Software engineer in Red Hat lalatendu.org Find me in Twitter or Freenode as {@ #}lalatenduM

Introduction

● CentOS stands for Community Enterprise Operating System.

● Since March 2004, CentOS Linux has been a community-supported distribution.

● It is derived from sources freely provided to the public by Red Hat.

● The first CentOS Linux release in May 2004.

About CentOS● CentOS is almost identical to RHEL except that it

modifies packages to remove Red Hat branding and artwork *

Note*: Many RPMs still contain the name redhat, rhel, or rh. ● Though RHEL have many channels, CentOS only

builds from RHEL base channel. ** but merges all variants into one distro ( no Workstation, Server etc)● Uses Yum repos only.

For details refer : http://wiki.centos.org/FAQ/General

Popular with:● Sysadmins who prefer the Red Hat way of doing things● Hosting industry ( facebook, twitter, tumblr -> big web

users of CentOS )● Voice Over IP Industry● HPC and Super-computing● Large Embedded (ie. machines with > 4G of ram and

> 2 cores )● Developers for open source infra and systems

management code ( puppet, chef, ansible etc were all bootstrapped on CentOS )

● On Premise Cloud providers ( Eucalyptus, CloudStack, OpenStack* all default to CentOS - OpenStack is a bit more complicated )

Past: (Before SIGs)

RHEL CentOSFedora

open source projects

SIG stands for Special Interest Group

CentOS Core VS SIGl Stability Vs Cutting edge technology.l Distribution vs Specialized distribution.

The SIG Mindset

● A better upstream user experience.● Solving a bigger technology issue without worrying

about platform.● Each CentOS (i.e. 6 and 7) has 10 years of life cycle.

The SIG Mindset (Continued..)

● Freedom to change RPM spec file to make packages work with each other better.

● Freedom to rebuild package from core CentOS. e.g. latest Docker, GlusterFS

● SIGs should address user stories.

Current SIGs

● Stable : Xen4CentOS● Planning and Getting Started: Atomic, Storage,

Virtualization, Cloud, Cloud Instance, Software Collections, Config Management, PaaS

● Proposed: VOIP, Public CI

Refer: http://wiki.centos.org/SpecialInterestGroup

Starting a SIG

● Anyone can propose to set up a SIG● To start with, send a proposal to CentOS-Devel mailing

list.● SIG must be approved by the Board.

For Details Refer: http://wiki.centos.org/SpecialInterestGroup

Requirements

● Should be an user story.● All code produced within the SIG should have a

distributable license.*● At least one CentOS board member should part of SIG

(as mentor).

Infrastructure for SIG

● CentOS Community Build System

● ci.centos.org● Wiki space on wiki.centos.org● Bug tracker● Separate email List (if required)● Yum repos, RPM signing, mirrors

Bootstrap and running

● Send your proposal to centos-devel ML. ● Get a CentOS core team member on board. ● Wiki page for the SIG.● Get a CentOS build system account.● Buildsys repo -> Testing repo -> Stable repo.

SIG Responsibility

● Creating and maintaining the SIG.● Make the functional area open for participation.● Foster a community around the functional aspect, to

share the responsibility, workload, and innovation.

SIG Governance● Gradually gets autonomy after the early stage.

Upstream VS SIG

● SIG should be able to deliver Upstream user story.● Communication between upstream community and

SIG.

Contributing to SIG

● RPM packaging● Automation testing/CI● Upstream contribution

Getting Involved In A SIG

● Join Weekly meeting● Join mailing list. In most cases it is

centos-devel@centos.org● Refer the SIG wiki page for more information.

Future● Grow organically. ● A definite life cycle for the SIG?● Evolve as a distribution?● ISOs, cloud images, containers, live CDs?

Questions

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