simonw / simonw/datasette

Explore if SquashFS can be used to shrink size of packaged Docker containers

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help wanted research
Dominant language
Python
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Description

Inspired by this article: https://cldellow.com/2018/06/22/sqlite-parquet-vtable.html#sqlite-database-indexed--squashed

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SquashFS is "a compressed read-only file system for Linux" - which means it could be a really nice fit for Datasette and its read-only SQLite databases.

It would be interesting to explore a Dockerfile recipe that used SquashFS to compress the SQLite database file that was bundled up by datasette package and friends.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the linked article and SquashFS description, then inspect how datasette package bundles read-only SQLite databases. Done means the feasibility is established and a reproducible Dockerfile recipe is provided if SquashFS meaningfully reduces the packaged container size.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
docker, python, sqlite
Domain
databases, devops
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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