[KDE/Mac] Repository for patches to fix KDE Problems on OS X

[Ian Wadham]

Hello Marko,

On 28/06/2014, at 9:40 PM, Marko Käning wrote:
> Ben also pointed out that the OSX KDE/CI system gives us the extra benefit of an
> additional compiler, since Apple uses clang, while the Linux build system uses
> solely gcc. (In the past I've spotted compile warnings by clang often which had
> slipped through using gcc on Linux or OSX 10.6.8, so I saw that benefit straight
> away as well.)

Heh, heh!  I can claim to have played a small part in that:
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=300429#c19

Also this little thread is an object lesson in what can happen with Clang:
http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-games-devel&m=139632085823089&w=2

I have seen only one or two real errors in legacy games code that Clang picked
up.  They have long since been fixed and were pretty harmless anyway, but library
code can be more complex, so keep your eyes peeled…

>> Is there any possibility of an OS X CI system for KDE 4? I have a feeling it
>> will be with us on MacPorts for some years yet.
> 
> That is - according to Ben with whom I discussed this right away - in principle
> possible, since all the infrastructure is there and being used by the Linux build
> slaves these days.

Great news!

> All you need is to get Qt4 installed. (I guess we can simply use qt4-mac!)

From current MacPorts?  Indeed you can!  And I do.

> Ian, your knowledge regarding how to build KDE apps from scratch might enable us to
> set up such a build slave more easily than the KF5 build slave I am working on these
> days...
> 
> I also think that KDE 4 will stay around for quite a bit on OSX, so it seems to be
> worth pursuing this!
> 
> In that case we could simply add that build slave also to Brad's KDECIVM and not
> only here to my local VM. The only problem I see with his VM is that one would need
> to keep Qt4 isolated from Qt5…

It is not hard.  A very small number of environment variables can be used to point
everything at qt4-mac.  The main one is QTDIR=/opt/local, or wherever.  That's how
KDE guys in general moved between Qt3 and Qt4.

> I am not sure how well that's going to work, which
> is why I'd prefer a dedicated VM for that purpose.
> 
> Would you be in for that and support me?

Well, as much as I can.  Don't forget I am a Venerable KDE Programmer [1].
One cannot keep assimilating new stuff at the same rate forever.  VMs and
CI systems have both passed me by.  I stumble a lot even with git.

Cheers, Ian W.

[1] In the Catholic Church, Venerable is the first step towards Saint.  In
      Buddhism, it is the first step towards Master.  I wonder if Carl Symons, my
      interviewer on dot.kde.org, meant to write "veteran", or even "venereal" :-)