libglacier-ng/ROADMAP.txt

+--------------------------------------------+
| Glacier roadmap                            |
+--------------------------------------------+

What's left to build, in priority order. Status as of 2026-10-04.
Design detail lives in the companion docs; this file says WHAT and in
what order, and links to WHERE:

    SECURITY_DESIGN.txt   integrity, scope separation, refusal matrix
    PACKAGE_SCOPES.txt    layout, link routing, /etc config handling
    IMAGE_DESIGN.txt      system images as bootstrap output, sysroot
    GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP.txt glacier-bootstrap plan, prerequisites, decisions

Mark an item [DONE yyyy-mm-dd] rather than deleting it, so the history
stays readable. CLAUDE.md "Known open items" tracks small bugs; this
file tracks work.


+--------------------------------------------+
| 1. Install Everest with glacier alone      |
+--------------------------------------------+

The critical path: from "QEMU boots an initramfs assembled by a script"
(~/Projects/everest) to "glacier installs a system".

  1.1  sysroot in the library (IMAGE_DESIGN section 3). Every path is
       hardcoded to /glacier and /usr. Needs separate install-root
       (where bytes are written) and runtime-root (what symlink targets
       say). The trap: prune_stale_links follows absolute links, so a
       naive prefix would judge the image's links against the HOST's
       filesystem. Required test: an image build leaves the host's /usr
       and /glacier byte-identical.

  1.2  syspkg --root DIR (refuses unless DIR and its ancestors are
       root-owned and not group/world-writable) and --strict (any link
       refusal fails the transaction; an image's /usr starts empty).
       gl_create_fs_tree already takes a root prefix.

  1.3  glacier-bootstrap, local mode (GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP.txt sections 1-6).
       Template index -> resolve -> verify -> syspkg --root, one
       transaction. Never writes into TARGET itself.

  1.4  Packages for glacier itself, so an installed system can manage
       itself: luajit, libarchive (+ zlib), libconfig, libglacier-ng,
       glacier-ng (syspkg, gpkg, gstore), doas.

  1.5  The installer. Undesigned; needs its own design session
       (SECURITY_DESIGN section 10). Partitioning, a bootloader or an
       EFI-stub kernel on the ESP, copying the kernel there (a symlink
       won't do on FAT), a disk image.

  Already done on this path: hash verification, package symlinks, the
  merged-/usr tree on syspkg -n, /etc config handling, a QEMU-bootable
  musl + busybox + linux + everest-bootscripts set.


+--------------------------------------------+
| 2. Package-manager features                |
+--------------------------------------------+

  2.1  UPGRADES. Spec (2026-10-04):
         - Replacing an installed version is `-lO` (local file) — plain
           -l refuses ("extra::foo 1.0.0 is already installed.", nothing
           more). [DONE 2026-10-04]
         - The replaced version is BACKED UP: its files compressed into
           <scope>/backup/<repo>/<name>/<name>-<ver>.gpkg + .sha256, a
           complete installable package (saved manifest included).
           KEEP_OLD in glacier.conf = how many backups to keep per
           package (0 = none). No default: glacier.conf ships with
           KEEP_OLD = 1, and an operation that would replace a version
           refuses if it's missing or invalid. [DONE 2026-10-04]
         - A restore interface for backups: later. (A backup can already
           be reinstalled with -lO.)
         - `gpkg -u` / `syspkg -u` = upgrade from a REMOTE repository;
           waits for 3.1, like -f.
         - /etc follows the existing config rules regardless.

  2.2  gpkg -f / syspkg -f: MERGE. Spec (2026-10-04): exactly like -l,
       except the package comes from a remote repository by name
       instead of from a local file. Same summary, verification, scope
       rules and transaction. Depends on 3.1 (remote repositories +
       signing): until then there is nothing safe to fetch from.

  2.3  Dependencies. PKG_DEPS / PKG_CONFS are parsed and ignored.
         - install: refuse if a dependency isn't installed (or in the
           same transaction);
         - REMOVE: refuse to remove a package others depend on. Today
           nothing stops `syspkg -x musl` from breaking every binary on
           the system. Highest-value item in this section;
         - conflicts: refuse to install a package that conflicts with
           an installed one.
       Check-only vs automatic resolution: GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP decision 9e.

  2.4  Queries: list installed packages, show a package's details, find
       which package owns a file. The index has the data; no CLI shows it.

  2.5  Rollback. Every commit moves the previous state to old/ and then
       deletes it. Keep it (or the last N), plus a command to return to
       it. Interacts with 2.1's KEEP_OLD.

  2.6  File conflicts between packages: two packages shipping the same
       path — whichever links last silently wins. Detect and refuse.

  2.7  glacier.conf parsing. [DONE 2026-10-04 for integers:
       gl_conf_get_int, no defaults, missing/unreadable/wrong-type are
       distinct errors.] Still open: rejecting UNKNOWN keys (CLAUDE.md bug
       10's lesson — a misspelled KEEP_OLD currently reads as "not set",
       which at least fails loudly).

  2.8  gstore: -s (sync) is a stub; there's no restore command although
       gstore -b's output tells you to run -r (gl_restore_istore exists).

  2.9  User-scope config files: user packages still link etc/ into a
       links tree that's rebuilt on every commit.

  2.10 Hardlink entries in package archives are skipped at extraction.


+--------------------------------------------+
| 3. Security                                |
+--------------------------------------------+

  3.1  Remote repositories + signing (authenticity, keyring). The agreed
       next major item; separate design pass. Unblocks 2.2 and remote
       glacier-bootstrap. Until then, GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP's pinned
       templates are the safe bridge for remote fetches.

  3.2  Hash verification lives in the CLIs' shared module. A third-party
       tool calling gl_install_pkg directly isn't verified. Consider
       moving it into the library, like the base-in-user-scope refusal.

  3.3  Manifests don't record the SYS_PROFILE they were built under, so a
       package built for the wrong target can't be detected.

  3.4  gstore -n accepts UIDs with no passwd entry (pre-provisions a
       directory nobody owns yet; a typo creates a stray one).


+--------------------------------------------+
| 4. Build tooling                           |
+--------------------------------------------+

  4.1  gbuild system profiles (-P ARCH-LIBC[-FEATURE...]) and gworld's
       SYS_PROFILE recipe field. CLAUDE.md described both as done; neither
       exists in the tree (only one gbuild, in glacier-ng). Today the
       target libc is decided by where gbuild runs (~/Projects/everest
       builds in Alpine for musl).

  4.2  Move ~/Projects/everest's per-package gbuild commands into gworld
       recipes once 4.1 lands.


+--------------------------------------------+
| 5. Performance (not urgent)                |
+--------------------------------------------+

  5.1  gl_relink_store / gl_rebuild_index rescan the whole store on every
       commit. Fine at current scale; a dirty set is the fix.


+--------------------------------------------+
| 6. Decisions waiting                       |
+--------------------------------------------+

  - Images are only ever bootstrap OUTPUT (IMAGE_DESIGN 9a /
    GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP 9a).
  - Template index format (GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP 9b).
  - Dependencies: check-only or automatic (GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP 9e).
  - Where the pinning helper lives (GLACIER_BOOTSTRAP 9f).
  - 2.1's open questions a-d (upgrade backups).
  - extra vs community: should they ever behave differently?
  - The installer (1.5).


+--------------------------------------------+
| 7. Done                                    |
+--------------------------------------------+

  [DONE 2026-10-04] Version replacement + backups (2.1): -lO replaces,
    KEEP_OLD backups, gl_backup_pkg / gl_prune_backups / gl_conf_get_int,
    the manifest saved in the store (.glacier-manifest), add_to_archive
    learns symlinks (gstore -b silently dropped them too), gpkg modifier
    flags (-O -S -V) order-independent so `gpkg -lO` works.
    tests/upgrade_alpine.sh (29 checks).
  [DONE 2026-10-04] Correctness batch:
    - gbuild: autotools detected before a bare Makefile (bug 8 had
      regressed); --cross-prefix fixed (its option-table key was
      misspelled); -v/--version print the version as documented, with
      --verbose for verbose output.
    - gpkg -x: summary resolved from the index (was "unknown::pkg
      0.0.0"); a package that isn't installed fails before the prompt.
    - gpkg: precise refusal for a missing / squatted / loosened user
      directory (was "No index found"), via gl_usr_base_status.
    - gpkg -h lists -l and -S; -f/-u described by the 2.1/2.2 specs.
    - Up-to-date reinstall logs once.
    - Link conflicts reported once, by the package that has them, not
      again on every later system commit (.glacier-fresh marker).
    - A failed extraction no longer leaves a half-extracted version dir
      (in a live context, every retry then said "already installed").
    - Dead old-layout code removed from pkg.c (gl_prepare_pkgdir and the
      gl_usr_* / gl_sys_* dir_t constants).
    - tests/glacier_ffi.lua is a wrapper over lib/glacier_cdef.lua; its
      own copy had already drifted (missing GL_INSTALL_ERR_SCOPE).
    - Dockerfile.arch / .debian moved to the per-uid layout (root-owned
      /app, libglacier-ng built from source, the gstore -n doas rule).
  [DONE 2026-10-04] Hash verification; package symlinks; per-uid user
    layout + doas gstore -n; syspkg -n top-level tree; /etc config
    handling (copy + .new); -O/--overwrite; everest-bootscripts.