August 28, 2010

www-client/chromium now uses system-provided dev-libs/icu

The latest dev channel release, www-client/chromium-7.0.503.1, builds with use_system_icu=1, which means one less bundled library. It also seems that the binary size of /usr/lib/chromium-browser/chrome is now smaller.

We have still quite a lot of bundled libraries though, but we're really close to building with system sqlite. I'm working on upstream patches (both Chromium and SQLite) to make this possible.

Please note that as www-client/chromium uses more and more system libraries, it will also require more testing on the Gentoo side, because upstream QA only tests the bundled configuration.

August 21, 2010

Portage migration to git tracker bug

I'm not sure why it hasn't been posted before, or maybe it has: there's a tracker bug for portage migration from cvs to git. Things start to get more real.

By the way, if you were reading my posts on gentoo-dev, that's the kind of project visibility I like to see.

August 12, 2010

www-client/chromium beta channel update (6.0.472.33)

There is a new beta version of Google Chrome, and now portage also has www-client/chromium-6.0.472.33 in ~arch. There are some new exciting features in the 6.x series, like improved UI, autofill, better sync, and more.

If you encounter any problems with the new version, please report the issues to Gentoo Bugzilla. Please also see bugs marked as "Herd Testers' Help Wanted". All helpful bug comments and good bug reports are appreciated.

Oh, and if you have been waiting for WebM support, the updated ebuild now enables it. Enjoy!

August 1, 2010

Help Gentoo make www-client/chromium and chromium-bin packages better

I know many of you use the www-client/chromium and chromium-bin packages, even the -9999 version which updates directly from the upstream's svn. I'm sure you'd like them to be the best we can do.

I have created a project page for Chromium packages maintenance for that reason. One of the goals is to build a community of users helping with the packaging efforts and providing valuable feedback.

If you are interested, please take a look at the link above. It contains useful bug queries, especially for ones we need more help with (Herd Testers Help Wanted). Frequently, a comment from another person confirming the same problem (with emerge --info and build log if applicable) would make diagnosing the issues easier and faster. And if you can provide some additional info, or a detailed analysis what is wrong and how to fix it, that's even better.