[HN Gopher] Implementing /Usr Merge in Alpine
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Implementing /Usr Merge in Alpine
Author : rascul
Score : 12 points
Date : 2025-10-01 20:40 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (alpinelinux.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (alpinelinux.org)
| charcircuit wrote:
| >and non-merged installations upgrading to it will break.
|
| This is unacceptable. Updating your operating system should not
| cause it to break. Alpine should be responsible for the migration
| and not forcing users to do manual work else breaking their
| machines.
| Bender wrote:
| This or at very least wait until a major version update like
| 4.0 so that if an installation breaks it's likely during a
| major uplift or refresh or greenfield deployment.
| thyristan wrote:
| Alpine isn't a distro one would upgrade. It is usually used for
| throwaway containers, so the upgrade path is clear: throw the
| old one away, create a new one.
| Bender wrote:
| I have Alpine installed on many physical and virtual machines
| all around the USA. I know I am not alone on this. Some VPS
| providers also offer it as an installation option and some
| VM's are long-lived.
| talideon wrote:
| The only way it can break is if you skip straight to forward to
| a release that no longer contains the tooling allowing you to
| make the transition cleanly. They outlined this is the article.
| Arnavion wrote:
| And updating Alpine to a new release is already a manual
| action.
| Bender wrote:
| I feel like they jumped the gun on this article. 3.22 does not
| have a merge-usr package/script _inhttp://dl-
| cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/v3.22/main_ and 3.23 does not yet
| exist otherwise I would test the merge script right now on a
| throw-away VM. Looking at the merge request it appears the Finish
| step is not yet completed or the pipeline was skipped or I am
| reading this incorrectly. Perhaps they are just missing an
| estimated deployment date in the article.
| Arnavion wrote:
| As TFA says, currently the usr-merge and the script for it is
| only in Edge, and it will come to stable in 3.23
| Bender wrote:
| I've read the article 5 times and I can almost interpret it
| that way in the _how to migrate_ section which mentions 3.23.
| The _Timeline_ section has no mention of dates. I would like
| to see a table of dates or at least an Oompa Loompa song.
| Arnavion wrote:
| There's no need to interpret anything. It's spelled out in
| the list in the Timeline section already. Point 1 tells you
| it's in Edge. Point 2 tells you that stable will be able to
| start migrating with 3.23, ie when current Edge becomes
| stable.
| Bender wrote:
| I am not seeing the same thing as you. The timeline
| section says that if I install 3.23 it will be user-
| merged and if I upgrade from an older release I wont be
| forced until 3.26. There are no dates. A timeline will
| have times and/or dates. Perhaps it is a CDN caching
| issue.
| Arnavion wrote:
| >>the Merge Request that finalizes the initial work will
| be merged. Any new __edge__ installations will be /usr-
| merged from this point onwards.
|
| >>Release of Alpine Linux __3.23: [...] From this point
| onwards,__ users are encouraged to migrate existing
| installs.
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(page generated 2025-10-01 23:01 UTC)