cut extraneous para, add links

[crowdsupply.git] / updates / 023_2020mar26_decoder_emulator_started.mdwn

diff --git a/updates/023_2020mar26_decoder_emulator_started.mdwn b/updates/023_2020mar26_decoder_emulator_started.mdwn
index a82c742269d94ed9a92a51e8652aaaa7119511df..81bdafed33554597d28044c8de43fc59eccf1b40 100644 (file)
--- a/updates/023_2020mar26_decoder_emulator_started.mdwn
+++ b/updates/023_2020mar26_decoder_emulator_started.mdwn
@@ -671,9 +671,46 @@ and outputted c-code.
 This leaves me wondering, as I mention on the HDL list, if we can do the same
 thing with large sections of the POWER Spec.
 
-# Build Servers
-
-TODO
+# Build Servers, Process Automation, and Reducing Cognitive Load
+
+(*written kindly by Cole*)
+
+Over the past month, Jacob, and a new project member Cole, set up a new
+build server for the project. The build server is an old computer that
+Jacob wasn't using anymore, that he decided to make available to the
+project for running continuous integration (CI) testing for the many
+modules and submodules of the project. The build server is a gitlab test
+runner instance using a Docker backend. As Luke has taken pains to make
+clear
+[many times](https://libre-riscv.org/HDL_workflow/),
+very large and complex python projects are guaranteed
+to fail without proper, extensive test coverage. This new build server
+will allow us to
+[automate](http://lists.libre-riscv.org/pipermail/libre-riscv-dev/2020-April/005687.html)
+the running, monitoring, and reporting of these
+tests, giving us the ability to push a commit and have it automatically
+"verified" as cohesive with the existing codebase. Automating feedback,
+will help provide more confidence to the engineers that their code isn't
+breaking some other functionality in a codebase they are working on,
+and should also help improve the ease of long-term maintainability
+of the code. The more we can automate the menial tasks that have to
+be repeated frequently, and are important for success of the project
+but are not related to progressing the engineering of the Libre-SOC,
+the more productive project members can be.
+
+To help continue to ease such administrative burdens on the engineers,
+Cole is also working on a repository of setup automation scripts. The first
+script is one that will replicate the setup of Jacob's build server,
+so that others who want to contribute computational resources to the
+project may do so easily. Cole is also working on a collection of modular
+scripts to automate the setup of the development environment for the
+HDL workflow and the layout of the SOC, including the installation of
+development branches of a substainal number of very complex pieces of
+software. This should help ease the process of onboarding new members
+to the project, especially some interns that we have coming onboard in
+the next few months to do the layout of the chip. These scripts will be
+available via the git.libre-riscv.org repository dev-env-setup, at the
+[following link](http://git.libre-riscv.org/?p=dev-env-setup.git)
 
 # Conclusion