As of the beginning of this month, Exherbo Linux introduced additional concepts to Linux package management, which allow cross-compiling to different architectures while still being able to use the features and dependency resolution of the package manager more easily than any other available distro.
On most distributions, cross-compilation is often handled by special-purpose tools, entirely separate from the distribution’s package manager. This presents a number of difficulties, including having to deal with how building a package for the target architecture may require additional tools on the host system – an obstacle that must be resolved manually. And, while the tool can resolve dependencies on the target and the package manager can do the same for the host, neither can interoperate with the other.
Exherbo’s new multi-arch strategy instead adds cross-compilation as a built-in feature of the package manager, enabling seamless handling of such issues. This permits a single host system to compile packages for any supported target architecture (which can also be incompatible), without requiring the user to provide manual intervention or custom-built toolchains.
Most distributions provide similar, but limited, functionality through a split between the 32-bit and 64-bit software on the system, often under the name “multilib”. However, this only addresses the much narrower problem of allowing 64-bit systems to run 32-bit software. Exherbo originally did the same, but multi-arch provides a more flexible solution: in separating the filesystem structure by the target architecture, it permits far more than a simple lib64 vs. lib32 split. With each architecture able to coexist in the filesystem, multilib-like behavior can be supported in an architecture-agnostic way.
These multi-arch features have resulted in other enhancements to the source-based Exheres package format as well, such as the ability to seperate different parts of the package from each other, combining some perks of binary-based package management with the flexibility of source-based package management. Akin to how binary distributions often provide development and library packages, you can now install only certain parts of a package if you desire, rather than everything. Exherbo sidesteps the issues inherent in having wholly separate packages for development headers, docs, and other components by expressing such parts as options on a single package.
Multi-arch has been worked on for about three years now and the final merge was prepared over the last month. Work continues towards converting packages to take full advantage of the new technology, and all contributions are welcome.
Copyright 2015 Kylie McClain