maria-developers team mailing list archive

[Arjen Lentz <arjen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi all, fellow Maria captains in particular (but naturally anybody  
here can comment)

We'd like to include the plugin for OQGRAPH engine in the 5.1 packages  
we're just about to build.
It would not be pulled in like the xtradb/pbxt engines, but be  
compiled separately and not loaded in by default (people will have to  
do INSTALL PLUGIN) so that as long as it's not loaded, it can have no  
influence on the running of mysqld.

The rationale is this.
From the experience with PBXT, people really want/need binaries/ 
packages before they will try things. If 5.1 binaries had had PBXT  
plugin sitting there, lots more people would have tried it earlier,  
filed bugreports and feedback, and Paul would have been where he is  
now much quicker. With MariaDB pulling it in it's ok now, but it's  
just a darn waste and pity of the earlier time.

Since 5.1's plugin infrastructure still requires a plugin to be  
compiled against close to exact the original mysqld source, the only  
way to ensure that is to compile them from the same source at the same  
time, next to eachother.
So that's what I'm proposing.

Nonsense like the feature preview builds that Sun/MySQL did just make  
no sense in the real world, people can't use that. So while sticking  
new plugins in a future version like 5.2 appears sensible, it doesn't  
actually help in getting the code out there and used which is of  
course the only way to get feedback and bugreports. The ability to  
have plugins distributed but not loaded is the key here, it allows us  
to get stuff out and those who want to try it can, without  
destabilising anything for those who don't.

(On the practical side, since it's essentially separate it would get  
added during the source tarball prep in the builds, so no action  
required inside the maria tree)


With the packages getting prepped now, I realise it's a tad short  
notice. Don't feel rushed, but do please reply when you read this,  
otherwise it might get lost in your email pile (I know my friends, as  
I know myself ;-)
Thanks


Cheers,
Arjen.