feat(build): let a developer package on a distro newer than the floor - #360
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before-pack.cjs refuses to package binaries needing a newer glibc or libstdc++ than Ubuntu 22.04 provides. That is right for anything that ships and total for anything that does not: build:whisper-binaries links ggml against the host, so on a current distro every local `npm run build:linux` dies at packaging and the only way to see a .deb is to push and wait for CI. build-and-packaging.md already named this consequence -- "leaving a developer on a current distro unable to package at all" -- without offering a way out. OPENSCREEN_SYMBOL_FLOOR=host swaps the pinned ceiling for what this machine's own libc.so.6 and libstdc++.so.6 DEFINE, read via process.report from the libraries node already runs against: no ldconfig to parse, and no readelf, so a missing binutils still cannot turn the guard off. The SHT_GNU_VERDEF parser is the mirror of the SHT_GNU_VERNEED one already here, for the same reason it was hand-rolled. It relaxes the ceiling rather than removing the guard: a payload needing something even the host lacks still fails, and the parser assertion that keeps the scan honest runs either way. What it gives up is the distro-floor promise, which is the promise a local build is not making, so the build prints the ceiling it substituted and says not to publish the result. Any value other than "host" is an error rather than a silent enforce or a silent waive, and the variable is refused outright when CI is set: an escape hatch that can reach a published artifact is a hole, and the runners are pinned to the floor so nothing on CI needs it. Both refusals are covered by scripts/before-pack.test.mjs.
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📝 WalkthroughWalkthroughThe packaging script adds a local Linux host-symbol ceiling mode. It parses host libc and libstdc++ symbol definitions, rejects invalid or CI usage, applies the selected ceiling during validation, and documents and tests the behavior. ChangesLinux symbol ceiling override
Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~45 minutes Mergeability Score: ⚪ Minimal · up to The PR adds an explicit opt-in host symbol floor while preserving the default guard and refusing CI use; no actionable merge-blocking risk remains after normal checks and review. Sequence Diagram(s)sequenceDiagram
participant Build as Linux build
participant Pack as before-pack.cjs
participant Host as Host libc/libstdc++
participant Payload as Linux payload
Build->>Pack: Set OPENSCREEN_SYMBOL_FLOOR
Pack->>Host: Discover symbol ceilings in host libraries
Host-->>Pack: Return defined symbol versions
Pack->>Payload: Scan required symbol versions
Pack-->>Build: Accept payload or report symbol-version failure
Possibly related PRs
🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
✨ Finishing Touches📝 Generate docstrings
🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)
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Inline comments:
In `@scripts/before-pack.test.mjs`:
- Around line 78-94: Update the Linux host-mode test around resolveSymbolCeiling
so it validates that ceiling contains valid host-derived symbol entries without
comparing them against MAX_SYMBOL_VERSION. Preserve the pinned false assertion
and key-shape validation, and use controlled host-library fixtures only if exact
ceiling values must be asserted.
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scripts/before-pack.cjsscripts/before-pack.test.mjstechnical-documentation/engineering/build-and-packaging.md
The host-mode test required every prefix to come back at or above MAX_SYMBOL_VERSION, which is not a property resolveSymbolCeiling() has: host mode SUBSTITUTES the ceiling, it does not raise it. On a distro older than Ubuntu 22.04 the host ceiling legitimately comes back lower -- which makes the guard stricter, not weaker -- and the assertion would have failed there on a machine behaving exactly as designed. Asserts the shape instead: every prefix the pinned floor names came back, a fresh object rather than the pinned one, and each value parsed out of an ELF as a dotted version.
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Fixed in c3771fc — the finding is correct. The test required every prefix of the host ceiling to come back at or above Worth noting the direction, since it is the reason this is a test bug and not a code one: a lower host ceiling makes the guard stricter, not weaker. Nothing about the safety of the escape hatch depended on the assertion — the two things that keep it local (an unknown value is an error, and Now asserts shape rather than values: every prefix the pinned floor names came back, a fresh object rather than the pinned one, and each value parsed out of an ELF as a dotted version. Fixtures were considered and skipped — the point of the Linux-only case is that the real 4 tests pass, biome clean. |
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The problem
before-pack.cjsrefuses to package binaries needing a newer glibc or libstdc++ than Ubuntu 22.04 provides. That guard is right — it is what stops a package that dies inld.soon the distros the README claims.It is also total.
npm run build:whisper-binarieslinks whisper/ggml against the host, so on any current distro every localnpm run build:linuxdies at packaging:The only way to see a
.debis to push and wait for CI, so no packaging change can be tested locally.build-and-packaging.mdalready named this consequence — "leaving a developer on a current distro unable to package at all" — without offering a way out.The change
OPENSCREEN_SYMBOL_FLOOR=hostswaps the pinned ceiling for what this machine's ownlibc.so.6andlibstdc++.so.6define, read viaprocess.reportfrom the libraries node already runs against — noldconfigto parse and noreadelf, so a missing binutils still cannot turn the guard off. TheSHT_GNU_VERDEFparser is the mirror of theSHT_GNU_VERNEEDone already in the file.It relaxes the ceiling rather than removing the guard. A payload needing something even the host lacks still fails, and the parser assertion that keeps the scan honest runs either way. What it gives up is the distro-floor promise, which is the promise a local build is not making — so the build prints the ceiling it substituted and says not to publish the result.
Why it cannot leak into a release
hostis a hard error, never a silent enforce and never a silent waive: a typo in the one variable that relaxes this guard must not decide either way.CIis set. An escape hatch that can reach a published artifact is a hole, and the runners are pinned to the floor, so nothing on CI needs it.Both refusals are covered by
scripts/before-pack.test.mjs— they are reachable without a payload to scan, so they are tested rather than trusted.Verification
npx vitest --run scripts/before-pack.test.mjs— 4 passed.npx biome checkon both scripts — clean.node scripts/before-pack.cjs: unset refuses (message unchanged),hostpasses with the banner, an unknown value errors,host+CI=trueis refused.OPENSCREEN_SYMBOL_FLOOR=host npx electron-builder --linux debproducedOpenscreen-Linux-1.9.2.deb(278 MB) carryingwhisper-stt-server,compositor_view.node,openscreen-pipewire-helper,libggml-vulkanandlibgomp, with the expectedDepends. Without the variable the same build is refused, as before.Out of scope, noted while testing
Building from a git worktree additionally fails with
Please specify project homepage:app-builder-libreads.git/configdirectly, and a worktree's.gitis a file.package.jsoncarries nohomepage,description,licenseorrepository, so CI only succeeds because it checks out a normal clone and the homepage is derived from theoriginremote. Adding those fields would make the package metadata explicit instead of inferred — left out of this PR deliberately.🤖 Generated with Claude Code
Summary by CodeRabbit
New Features
Bug Fixes
Documentation
Tests