[oe] [yocto] Multiple Repository support

[Esben Haabendal]

On Wed, 2010-12-22 at 11:09 -0500, Cliff Brake wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I've started collecting ideas from various emails on multiple
> repository support.
> 
> http://wiki.openembedded.org/index.php/MultipleRepositoryMethods
> 
> Please feel free to update the above page.
> 
> In my mind, this is a key problem we need to solve, not just for
> Yocto/OE, but also for anyone doing product development.
> 
> I've personally been using git submodules for most projects, and repo
> for Android based projects.
> 
> Appreciate any ideas, experiences, or insights into how we solve this problem.

We are using git submodules for just this task in OE-lite.
It works pretty well, but I fear that this will not be the case if a
push model is used for the top repository.

We have partly wrapped the git submodule configuration into a bitbake
parsed configuration file, looking something like:

# OE-lite/core metadata
OE_MODULES                      += "core"
OE_MODULE_PATH_core              = "meta/core"
OE_MODULE_URL_core               =
"git://git.doredevelopment.dk/oe-lite/core.git"
OE_MODULE_PUSHURL_core           =
"ssh://dev.doredevelopment.dk/srv/public/git/oe-lite/core.git"
OE_MODULE_BRANCH_core            = "master"
OE_MODULE_REMOTES_core          += "gitorious"
OE_MODULE_REMOTE_core_gitorious  = "git at gitorious.org:oe-lite/core.git"

So developers get a more complete and consistent submodule setup.

We considered repo, but the KISS principle ruled in favor of git
submodules.  I believe the learning curve is steep enough for any
newcomers to OE, so having to figure out how to master something like
repo also does not seem so attractive.

/Esben

/Esben