linux-store-frontend
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flathub-infra
Provide last build info
We're learning with the RuneScape package that builds can be done slower than expected sometimes. It would be nice to have on the frontend the git revision hash of the last build as well as the time at which it was completed.
This would help with simply knowing if a change has made it into the package builds yet to speed up debugging. As it is right now there is no simple way to just know what revision you're getting at any point in time.
fwiw, I just noticed the date of last update at https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.jagex.RuneScape
That date is incorrect. There have been multiple updates to the RS package since the given date on flathub as the "last updated". I don't know exactly where that is coming from, but it's just wrong. Perhaps it is working off the "version" of the package instead of the physical build time.
We basically want a subset of the info from flatpak remote-info flathub com.jagex.RuneScape listed on the web-page for faster debugging. Especially by users who aren't used to the command line or don't understand right away what some of the options to the software provide.
Speaking of that command you'll see Date: 2018-05-31 21:12:03 +0000 for the build info on the latest package in the repo. This is far from "January 21st 2018" that Flathub itself says.
So the date on the pages is pulled from the appdata XML within the repositories. It is statically set and isn't representative of anything happening.
We’re working with an unstable medium here, which changes irregularly, but the version largely remains constant, so I’m not sure if bumping the release date each time would be the sanest thing. Conversely, would having developer information really be beneficial? I can’t imagine a user going to check the commit hash whenever installations begin failing. An active maintainer can just be aware of build times or whatever and inform people who come to report issues.
Knowing the last time a package was successfully built is hardly "developer info". The commit hash is, but that's actually quick visual reference of where things are. I'm not saying this stuff needs to be in broad daylight, it can easily go under a collapse system like a <details> element to keep it out of view unless someone is trying to look for it. But, it's super useful to see what is going on without needing to drop into the command line.
An active maintainer can just be aware of build times
How can we be aware of build times when we don't even have any insight into what is building? Right now we are seeing the RS game being a commit behind on updates. It only takes minutes to build, so unless the build queue is backed up, it should have been deployed by now.
Users also generally won't need to know this info. But, for those that are knowledgeable enough about debugging they could use this info to verify things before filing an issue. Or when filing an issue to help be more useful. Asking them to know the command arguments to get this info isn't user friendly.
The info is harmless if provided and only helps those trying to help and maintain projects do their work more effectively.
How can we be aware of build times when we don't even have any insight into what is building? Right now we are seeing the RS game being a commit behind on updates. It only takes minutes to build, so unless the build queue is backed up, it should have been deployed by now.
https://flathub.org/builds/#/
Wow, so there is a build list. Which also shows for some reason one of the commits to the RS repo didn't trigger a build like it should have. While the status site shows it was up 100% when the commit occurred. So, something is wrong the only question is where?
We need to try and find a way to surface this information. People who are knowledgeable about this kind of stuff want to help. As long as these super useful tools and info are hidden away behind some magic curtain of "users don't care" they get discouraged from trying to help.