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Is a glibc-based slim distro (e.g. debian-slim) a better fit than Alpine? #8

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opened 2026-08-06 20:41:22 +00:00 by haylan · 2 comments
haylan commented 2026-08-06 20:41:22 +00:00
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The three musl/Alpine research tickets (#4,
#5,
#6) converged on the same wall: what this
image needs (official Godot, official Blender, a posix-threads mingw-w64) is only available on
Alpine's edge/community repos, unpinned, with musl compatibility for Godot/Blender unverified
(one open Godot issue reports a musl segfault). Alpine's small size isn't worth that risk if a
glibc-based lightweight distro gets most of the size/speed win without it.

Is there a lighter glibc-based alternative to barichello/godot-ci's Ubuntu base — e.g.
debian:bookworm-slim, debian:trixie-slim, or similar — that:

  1. Has stable, pinned packages for the same needs: a Windows cross-compile toolchain
    (mingw-w64, posix-threads variant), X11/audio dev headers for Linux export, and either an
    official Blender binary that Just Works or a distro package for it.
  2. Meaningfully undercuts Ubuntu's base image size (Debian slim variants typically do — confirm
    with actual numbers, not assumption).
  3. Doesn't reintroduce the musl-compatibility risk #4/#5/#6 just surfaced, since it stays glibc.

Ground findings in primary sources: Debian's own slim-variant docs, Docker Hub's official
debian image tags/sizes, Debian package repos (packages.debian.org) for mingw-w64 and
Blender availability, and cross-check against what abarichello/godot-ci itself needed (this
map's Notes/Destination has that context).

This ticket feeds directly into Which base/approach wins
(#7) as a fourth candidate alongside
Alpine, a trimmed/multi-stage build, and slimming barichello/godot-ci directly.

Part of Smaller/faster godot-ci image (map).

## Question The three musl/Alpine research tickets ([#4](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/4), [#5](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/5), [#6](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/6)) converged on the same wall: what this image needs (official Godot, official Blender, a posix-threads mingw-w64) is only available on Alpine's `edge`/`community` repos, unpinned, with musl compatibility for Godot/Blender unverified (one open Godot issue reports a musl segfault). Alpine's small size isn't worth that risk if a **glibc-based** lightweight distro gets most of the size/speed win without it. Is there a lighter glibc-based alternative to `barichello/godot-ci`'s Ubuntu base — e.g. `debian:bookworm-slim`, `debian:trixie-slim`, or similar — that: 1. Has stable, pinned packages for the same needs: a Windows cross-compile toolchain (`mingw-w64`, posix-threads variant), X11/audio dev headers for Linux export, and either an official Blender binary that Just Works or a distro package for it. 2. Meaningfully undercuts Ubuntu's base image size (Debian slim variants typically do — confirm with actual numbers, not assumption). 3. Doesn't reintroduce the musl-compatibility risk #4/#5/#6 just surfaced, since it stays glibc. Ground findings in primary sources: Debian's own slim-variant docs, Docker Hub's official `debian` image tags/sizes, Debian package repos (packages.debian.org) for `mingw-w64` and Blender availability, and cross-check against what `abarichello/godot-ci` itself needed (this map's Notes/Destination has that context). This ticket feeds directly into [Which base/approach wins (#7)](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/7) as a fourth candidate alongside Alpine, a trimmed/multi-stage build, and slimming `barichello/godot-ci` directly. Part of [Smaller/faster godot-ci image (map)](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/2).
haylan added the wayfinder:research label 2026-08-06 20:41:22 +00:00
haylan commented 2026-08-06 20:44:48 +00:00
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Researched: debian:bookworm-slim doesn't get you Alpine's size win. Per Docker Hub's official image listings, debian:bookworm-slim (26.92 MB compressed) is within ~5% of ubuntu:noble (28.37 MB) — nowhere near Alpine's musl size class (~3-8 MB). Debian does clear every capability gap #4-#6 found with Alpine (posix-threads mingw-w64 in stable bookworm, all the X11/audio dev headers, official Blender tarball runs unmodified since it needs glibc >=2.28 which bookworm/noble both exceed), but that's moot without a real size/build-time payoff. Verdict: not worth migrating off the current barichello/godot-ci (Ubuntu) base. Full writeup: https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/src/branch/research/glibc-slim-alternative/docs/research/glibc-slim-alternative.md

Researched: debian:bookworm-slim doesn't get you Alpine's size win. Per Docker Hub's official image listings, debian:bookworm-slim (26.92 MB compressed) is within ~5% of ubuntu:noble (28.37 MB) — nowhere near Alpine's musl size class (~3-8 MB). Debian does clear every capability gap #4-#6 found with Alpine (posix-threads mingw-w64 in stable bookworm, all the X11/audio dev headers, official Blender tarball runs unmodified since it needs glibc >=2.28 which bookworm/noble both exceed), but that's moot without a real size/build-time payoff. Verdict: not worth migrating off the current barichello/godot-ci (Ubuntu) base. Full writeup: https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/src/branch/research/glibc-slim-alternative/docs/research/glibc-slim-alternative.md
haylan commented 2026-08-06 21:58:43 +00:00
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Resolution already recorded on Smaller/faster godot-ci image (map)'s Decisions-so-far and acted on in ticket #7's resolution. Closing — this was left open by an oversight, not because it's still active.

Resolution already recorded on [Smaller/faster godot-ci image (map)](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/2)'s Decisions-so-far and acted on in [ticket #7](https://git.arthurerlich.de/haylan/godot-ci/issues/7)'s resolution. Closing — this was left open by an oversight, not because it's still active.
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Reference: haylan/godot-ci#8