Distri: Researching Fast Linux Package Management - Arch Conf 2020

Explore innovative approaches to accelerate Linux package management in this 49-minute conference talk from Arch Conf 2020. Dive into the architecture of distri, a research project aiming to significantly improve package installation speeds. Learn about key concepts like distributing packages as SquashFS images for immutability and system stability. Discover how distri's design allows it to efficiently utilize high-bandwidth connections, potentially filling 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, or even 100 Gbps line rates. Examine the impact of these architectural choices on the overall system and consider their practical applications. Gain insights into appendonly package stores, unsafeio, package industry, and package exchange. Discuss hooks, triggers, and strategies for deep system integration. Engage with the speaker, Michael Stapelberg, during the Q&A session covering topics such as lazy loading, complexity vs. simplicity, security issues, and the potential for bringing these ideas to a wider audience.

Introduction
Why package installation is so fast
How package managers work
Appendonly package store
Unsafeio
Package Industry
Package Exchange
H
Hooks and triggers
Two main strategies
How practical are they
Deep system integration
Summary
Conclusion
Project goals
Wrapup
QA session
Lazy loading
Complexity vs simplicity
Additional questions
Nyx vs Mix
Image compression
Storage overhead
Comparisons
Notes
Security issues
Rebuild
Stay safe
Bringing ideas to more people
reproducible builds
flexible packaging
overhead costs
generating innate ram fs
inner mfs
dependencies
updates
choice
question