Self-update works, and a delivered host is one fact short of usable #211

2026-09-30T10:28:02Z

jschoubben commented

2026-09-30 10:28:02 +00:00

The loop closed on the workstation: the version landed, the launcher was replaced, the running host stood aside, and after one restart the launcher started a binary the mesh had compiled, published and delivered.

The launcher goes as a file resource rather than inside the archive, and that is the safety rather than a preference — a file is written atomically so the running launcher keeps the inode it started from; an archive writes in place with truncate and would cut a script a shell is reading. The manifest carries a second copy and a test refuses drift.

Then it would have refused the first declaration it was asked to apply. The Makefile links in two facts the mesh's toolchain does not, on purpose, and one of them is the system the host was built for — read before anything is applied. The failure is safe and total, and nothing reports it: the unit is active, the bus link is up, and the log says it is hearing what the node should be.

Worse, the declaration that would fix it is the one it cannot apply, so the mesh cannot repair such a machine. Restored by moving the delivered versions aside and letting the launcher fall back — the fallback working as designed.

ADR 0142 already settles the version (it comes from where the component sits, not its linker) and that is unimplemented. The system pin has no answer, and the candidates are a decision rather than a fix.

**The loop closed** on the workstation: the version landed, the launcher was replaced, the running host stood aside, and after one restart the launcher started a binary the mesh had compiled, published and delivered. The launcher goes as a **file** resource rather than inside the archive, and that is the safety rather than a preference — a file is written atomically so the running launcher keeps the inode it started from; an archive writes in place with truncate and would cut a script a shell is reading. The manifest carries a second copy and a test refuses drift. **Then it would have refused the first declaration it was asked to apply.** The Makefile links in two facts the mesh's toolchain does not, on purpose, and one of them is the system the host was built for — read before anything is applied. The failure is safe and total, and nothing reports it: the unit is active, the bus link is up, and the log says it is hearing what the node should be. Worse, the declaration that would fix it is the one it cannot apply, so the mesh cannot repair such a machine. Restored by moving the delivered versions aside and letting the launcher fall back — the fallback working as designed. ADR 0142 already settles the version (it comes from where the component sits, not its linker) and that is unimplemented. **The system pin has no answer**, and the candidates are a decision rather than a fix.

jschoubben added 1 commit 2026-09-30 10:28:02 +00:00

Self-update works, and a delivered host is one fact short of usable 5042ffd8d3

The loop closed on the workstation: the version landed, the launcher was
replaced, the running host stood aside, and after one restart the launcher
started a binary the mesh had compiled, published and delivered.

The launcher goes as a file resource rather than inside the archive, and
that is the safety rather than a preference. A file is written atomically,
so the running launcher keeps the inode it started from; an archive writes
in place with truncate and would cut a script a shell is reading. The
manifest carries a second copy and a test refuses any drift from the one
in packaging.

Then it would have refused the first declaration it was asked to apply.
The Makefile links in two facts the mesh's toolchain does not, on purpose,
and one of them is the system the host was built for — read before
anything is applied, so the failure is safe and total. Nothing reports it:
the unit is active, the bus link is up, and the log says it is hearing
what the node should be.

Worse, the declaration that would fix it is the declaration it cannot
apply, so the mesh cannot repair such a machine. Restored by moving the
delivered versions aside and letting the launcher fall back, which is the
fallback working as designed.

0142 already settles the version — it comes from where the component sits,
not from its linker — and that is unimplemented. The system pin has no
answer, and the candidates are a decision rather than a fix: put it in the
path too, carry it in a file beside the binary, or stop pinning at link
time at all, which is 0005's to change.

jschoubben merged commit 4cf941d858 into main

2026-09-30 10:28:08 +00:00

jschoubben deleted branch issue/161-a-delivered-host-has-no-link-time-facts

2026-09-30 10:28:08 +00:00

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Reference: novox/hq#211