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task #9745: Submission of Block Device Imaging Tools

Submitter:  Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb>
Submitted:  Mon 28 Sep 2009 02:29:14 AM UTC
   
 
Should Start On:  Mon 28 Sep 2009 12:00:00 AM UTC Should be Finished on:  Thu 08 Oct 2009 12:00:00 AM UTC
Category:  Project Approval Priority:  * 5 - Normal
Status:  Done Privacy:  Public
Assigned to:  sgerhardt Open/Closed:  Closed
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Tue 29 Sep 2009 06:36:41 AM UTC, comment #3: 

Hi,

>Yes, the documentation will grow, but the file formats and the
>like (the stuff in Documentation) will each be as they are. So I
>must ask, does "leaving triviality" refer to the documentation s
>a whole or to the individual files?


If you took http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/html_node/Copyright-Notices.html#Copyright-Notices
literally, it would refer to individual files. But I think "the spirit" is that any non-trivial work should get this treatment. And "work" here is the documentation as a whole, i.e. all doc files together. In addition, the files already are beyond triviality if you apply that 10-line criteria.

But I won't fight over this. If you have the feeling that the license note only disturbs the reader, you can also create a separate text file in /doc where you write something like "All files in this directory are subject to copyright and licensed as follows...". Even better is to explicitly name each file.

Otherwise, the text you proposed is completely appropriate in each case. The essential thing is that any user knows without doubt which license each file in your package is distributed under.


-----------

I approve your project and will trigger account creation.
So you can directly upload the patched project there.

Enjoy hosting&maintaining your project on Savannah.

Sebastian Gerhardt <sgerhardt>
Tue 29 Sep 2009 01:19:56 AM UTC, comment #2: 

In response,

1) The README was the first file written, and was less than entirely clear, in this sense it serves as a rough roadmap for the project.  BOTH of what you point out refer to the underlying system--blkclone really only cares what the POSIX API calls support.  The original target was specifically running under a Linux kernel, however the blkclone tools doesn't strictly depend on it, aside from using /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid to get UUIDs (not actually implemented yet) and the planned future network-bootable micro-distro.  The former is a matter of convenience, avoiding the need for our own UUID generation code when we have something perfectly good in the (Linux) kernel, a "gen-uuid" tool would suffice under other kernels; the latter is simply what I see as the easiest way to get there.

Fixed, see revised README, attached.

2) Yes, the documentation will grow, but the file formats and the like (the stuff in Documentation) will each be as they are.  So I must ask, does "leaving triviality" refer to the documentation as a whole or to the individual files?  If the former, then I agree and will probably add a simple permissive license to the format documents and the like (the stuff in Documentation/).

Separate manuals/HOWTOs (under GFDL) are planned after the code is more stable and nearer to completion.

In the case of adding simple permissive licenses, would adding something like the following to the end of each file be appropriate?

--------
Copyright (C) <year> <name>
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved.  This file is offered as-is, without any warranty.



(file #18792)

Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb>
Mon 28 Sep 2009 07:03:58 AM UTC, comment #1: 

Hi Jacob,

project submission look mostly fine. Except for two issues which I think need to be addressed.

1) We ask you to help us make the users aware that the kernel Linux is distinct from the operating system GNU/Linux. In the README, I assume you mean the operating system in the first sentence. Whereas, when you employ the term "Linux" in the context of file system support, I think you mean the kernel. I recommend you prepend GNU/ in the first instance and "the kernel" in the second.

2) The documentation looks like it is going to see growth in the future. So it is leaving triviality and therefore needs a copyright&license notice as well. I recommend either a simply public domain or an all permissive disclaimer
http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/html_node/License-Notices-for-Other-Files.html#License-Notices-for-Other-Files

In case the documentation is planned to be even manual-like, you might even want to consider the GFDL.
http://www.gnu.org/prep/maintain/html_node/License-Notices-for-Documentation.html#License-Notices-for-Documentation

Sebastian Gerhardt <sgerhardt>
Mon 28 Sep 2009 02:29:14 AM UTC, original submission:  

A new project has been registered at Savannah
This project account will remain inactive until a site admin approves or discards the registration.


Registration Administration


While this item will be useful to track the registration process, approving or discarding the registration must be done using the specific Group Administration page, accessible only to site administrators, effectively logged as site administrators (superuser):



Registration Details


  • Name: Block Device Imaging Tools
  • System Name:  blkclone
  • Type: non-GNU software & documentation
  • License: GNU General Public License v2 or later (may change to GPL v3 or later in future; not sure yet)





Description:

The blkclone tools are a free software solution for efficient disk imaging written in C.

These tools clone filesystems by generating a list of disk extents that store data and copying only those blocks.

This enables cloning filesystems that are only partially understood provided that some way is known to determine which blocks are actually in use.

Planned future enhancements include a network-based special-purpose Linux micro-distro for deploying images using a network and support for file-level imaging using cpio or similar.


Other Software Required:

No dependencies beyond base system.
(Needs libc and Linux kernel (uses/will use /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid), future planned directions involve use specifically of Linux kernel (kernel.org) (GPLv2) (stuffing binaries in an initramfs to make a self-contained bootable image) and BusyBox (busybox.net) (GPLv2).)


Other Comments:

Admittedly, the current state of the codebase ("in-development, as I have time for it") lends itself mostly to supporting the use (and working around the problems) of certain common non-free operating systems.  (Got a virus in the lab, AGAIN? Nuke and reload from the (GNU/Linux) server.)  Support for deploying images of GNU systems is planned more at the file level with cpio or equivalent, since GNU systems do not rely on particular files being at hard-wired places on the disk and have full support for their filesystems in free software, so the "copy disk structures without knowing what they mean" approach is not required.

With a view towards advancing Free Software, I see blkclone as a Free alternative to any of the several proprietary packages that do more-or-less the same thing as is planned, although at this stage it is more a collection of yet-to-be-polished tools than a "ready-to-roll" system.


Tarball URL:

http://savannah.gnu.org/submissions_uploads/blkclone-snapshot.tar.gz


Jacob Bachmeyer <jcb>

 

(Note: upload size limit is set to 16384 kB, after insertion of the required escape characters.)

Attach Files:
   
   
Comment:
   

Attached Files
file #18792:  README added by jcb (1KiB - application/octet-stream)

 

Depends on the following items: None found

Items that depend on this one: None found

 

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    Date Changed by Updated Field Previous Value => Replaced by
    2009-09-29 sgerhardt Open/ClosedOpen Closed
    2009-09-29 sgerhardt StatusWait reply Done
        Percent Complete90% 100%
    2009-09-29 jcb Attached File- Added README, #18792
    2009-09-28 sgerhardt StatusNone Wait reply
        Percent Complete0% 90%
        Assigned toNone sgerhardt

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