[vbox-dev] development revision numbering

[John Lumby]

Thanks Klaus

> Klaus Espenlaub klaus.espenlaub at oracle.com
> Thu Sep 14 17:58:08 GMT 2023
> Hello John,
> 
> On 2023-09-14 17:11, John Lumby via vbox-dev wrote:
> > Long ago I was advised how to obtain sourcecode and extpack in order to build a working VBox for a bleeding-edge linux kernel :   in brief
> > 
> >   checkout the open source from https://www.virtualbox.org/svn/vbox/trunk
> >   download the matching extpack from  Testbuilds  "Development snapshots"
> > 
> > This has always worked infallibly ,  most recently for kernel 6.5.3 (enormous kudos to you maintainers for keeping so up to date).
> > 
> > However  -    I would like to track the revision number of each build I make,      and I am baffled to find that there is no single,  consistent,   revision number between the source I get in step 1 and the extpack's announced revision number.        They are not even close.
> > 
> > E.g.  -
> >       yesterday I checked out the source and the last line of output stated
> >        Checked out revision 100800
> > 
> > I then go to development snapshots and find the current extpack is revision number 158812
> 
> The cause of this is that you're looking at revisions from two repositories.
> 
> 1. The one with higher revision number is the one internal to Oracle 
> (containing also the closed source bits, and additionally the release 
> branches). No one outside Oracle will ever get access there.
> 
> 2. The other is the public VirtualBox repository. It is a subset of the 
> previous one, containing purely the open source code for "trunk". 
> Unavoidably this repository will have fewer changes (not having the 
> changes related to the branches, and also not having the changes related 
> to closed source code).

I see.      Then may I ask a related question that is maybe more easily answerable and would give me what I need :

At run-time,  e.g. in a running VBoxManage,   when both an open-source build and an Extpack are in use,  which of the following is true?

1.      The Extpack checks that the open-source build is at a compatible revision/version to its (Extpack's) revision/version

2.      The open-source build checks that the Extpack is at a compatible revision/version to its (open-source build's) revision/version

3.      Both of the above

(Well,  I have to assume the answer is not neither of the above !!!)

If the answer is 1,  I would use the Extpack's revision as my identifying "VirtualBox revision".
If the answer is 2,  I would use the open-source build's revision as my identifying "VirtualBox revision".
If the answer is 3,  I could choose either and so would choose the Extpack's revision as tie-break since it changes more rapidly.

> 
> Hope this clarifies the picture...
> 
> Cheers,
> Klaus
> 
> > 
> > Cheers,    John Lumby