[Buildbot-devel] custom buildstem

[Dustin J. Mitchell]

For the record, we've historically resisted putting "execute this
arbitrary Python" support into Buildbot, for two reasons:

 1. it's more complex than it sounds

It boils down to sending a string on which the remote system calls
exec(), but with blocking and potentially damaging ramifications for
the running buildslave instance.  Steer clear of thoughts of sending
compiled Python bytecode across the wire, too.

 2. it's generally the wrong solution to the problem you're trying to solve

In particular, keep in mind that with this approach, if you want to
make *any* change to how you prepare VXWorks 6.6, you need to do a
complete redeployment of your buildslave installation across all
slaves.  That's far harder than adjusting a script in your source-code
repository or reconfiguring your master.

Of course, you're absolutely free to do whatever you'd like on your
own system.  Benoît mentioned merging into Buildbot, and I wanted to
make sure you had the full picture there.

Dustin