4 ms·

> I got the tmux source running (I suggest using vagrant and compiling it in a virtual machine). What's with this need of using virtual machines for almost eve

> I got the tmux source running (I suggest using vagrant and compiling it in a virtual machine). What's with this need of using virtual machines for almost everything? Why would I need a virtual machine to compile tmux?

mav3rick 7y ago
Doesn't want to dirty his home at all ? (Can use a chroot for this?. Maybe source is unstable and can crash machine ?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- yjftsjthsd-h 7y ago
  If an unprivileged userland program (like tmux) can bring down the whole machine, we have bigger problems than an unstable user program.
- ciupicri 7y ago
  There's no need for chroot, compiling under a different user should be enough in this case.
davesmith1983 7y ago
Because you have a clean start every-time you do something. When you use a machine on a daily basis you will have lots of your own scripts, software etc that will be in your path. A lot of times issues occur between machines because your build your instructions or your build scripts whatever have something that is specific to your machine / user account whatever that someone else might not have. If you use VM you will know that whatever the default VM is in vagrant that you tell them to use will be the same. It isn't always necessary but tbh I am not in the habit of doing it.
- jnurmine 7y ago
  But still, why VMs? A container seems even better suited for this purpose, since the only thing really required for this use-case is a certain configuration of system software as well as a separation from the rest of the system. Lxc/lxd can do it, Docker can do it, et cetera, the actual technology does not matter. As a plus, builds will be faster vs. a VM.
  - fredthomsen 7y ago
    Have to agree. This has been my main workflow for the past year and a half and the speed increase alone makes it worth it
  - davesmith1983 7y ago
    Containers weren't a thing back in 2014. Vagrant IIRC was fairly new and I remember sitting next to a guy that was scripting much of this up.
    - zokier 7y ago
      Containers were definitely a thing in 2014; Docker was getting hyped, LXC got 1.0 release after 5 years of developement, and people had been using stuff like OpenVZ long before. May 19, 2013 Docker - Way better than a VM https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5731706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5731706
      - davesmith1983 7y ago
        Well what is hyped up on hackernews might see the inside of corporate office in maybe another 10 years time.
    - ciupicri 7y ago
      But chroot was a thing back in 2014. Fedora's mock used chroot for building RPMs from source RPMs [1]. [1]: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Using_Mock_to_test_package_builds#What_is_Mock.3F https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Using_Mock_to_test_package_bu...
asark 7y ago
Makes it trivial to remove any build dependencies afterward, and the instructions/script are the same no matter your distro (delete the VM). Also, only one script or set of instructions needed to install the deps to begin with, if a VM's used and it's always the same distro & version. Personally, unless I'm running Gentoo I don't like all that crap hanging around my system packages, and this is simpler than learning the best way to deal with it on whatever distro & package manager one happens to compile on, especially if you don't compile from source very often.
orev 7y ago
At least it was a local virtual machine and not the cloud. Seems like every tutorial I see these days starts with 5 minutes of explaining how to launch some cloud image, as if people have forgotten you can use a local virtual box.

mav3rick 7y ago

Doesn't want to dirty his home at all ? (Can use a chroot for this?. Maybe source is unstable and can crash machine ?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
yjftsjthsd-h 7y ago
If an unprivileged userland program (like tmux) can bring down the whole machine, we have bigger problems than an unstable user program.
ciupicri 7y ago
There's no need for chroot, compiling under a different user should be enough in this case.

davesmith1983 7y ago

Because you have a clean start every-time you do something. When you use a machine on a daily basis you will have lots of your own scripts, software etc that will be in your path. A lot of times issues occur between machines because your build your instructions or your build scripts whatever have something that is specific to your machine / user account whatever that someone else might not have. If you use VM you will know that whatever the default VM is in vagrant that you tell them to use will be the same. It isn't always necessary but tbh I am not in the habit of doing it.

jnurmine 7y ago
But still, why VMs? A container seems even better suited for this purpose, since the only thing really required for this use-case is a certain configuration of system software as well as a separation from the rest of the system. Lxc/lxd can do it, Docker can do it, et cetera, the actual technology does not matter. As a plus, builds will be faster vs. a VM.
- fredthomsen 7y ago
  Have to agree. This has been my main workflow for the past year and a half and the speed increase alone makes it worth it
- davesmith1983 7y ago
  Containers weren't a thing back in 2014. Vagrant IIRC was fairly new and I remember sitting next to a guy that was scripting much of this up.
  - zokier 7y ago
    Containers were definitely a thing in 2014; Docker was getting hyped, LXC got 1.0 release after 5 years of developement, and people had been using stuff like OpenVZ long before. May 19, 2013 Docker - Way better than a VM https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5731706 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5731706
    - davesmith1983 7y ago
      Well what is hyped up on hackernews might see the inside of corporate office in maybe another 10 years time.
  - ciupicri 7y ago
    But chroot was a thing back in 2014. Fedora's mock used chroot for building RPMs from source RPMs [1]. [1]: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Using_Mock_to_test_package_builds#What_is_Mock.3F https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Using_Mock_to_test_package_bu...

asark 7y ago

Makes it trivial to remove any build dependencies afterward, and the instructions/script are the same no matter your distro (delete the VM). Also, only one script or set of instructions needed to install the deps to begin with, if a VM's used and it's always the same distro & version. Personally, unless I'm running Gentoo I don't like all that crap hanging around my system packages, and this is simpler than learning the best way to deal with it on whatever distro & package manager one happens to compile on, especially if you don't compile from source very often.

orev 7y ago

At least it was a local virtual machine and not the cloud. Seems like every tutorial I see these days starts with 5 minutes of explaining how to launch some cloud image, as if people have forgotten you can use a local virtual box.