Re:I'll think twice before using GitHub Actions again
by hinkley on Monday January 20, 2025 @04:05PM
(#42773026)
I’ll go so far as to say the massive add on/plugin list and featuritis of CI/CD tools is actively harmful to the sanity of your team.
The only functionality a CI tool should be providing is:
- starting and running an environment to build shit in
- accurately tracking success or failure
- accurate association of builds with artifacts
- telemetry (either their own or integration) and audit trails
- correlation with project planning software
- scheduled builds
- build chaining
That’s a lot, but it’s a lot less than any CI tool made in the last 15 years does, and that’s enough.
There’s a big difference for instance between having a tool that understands Maven information enough to present a build summary, and one with a Maven fetch/push task. The latter is a black box you can’t test locally, and your lead devs can’t either, so when it breaks, it triggers helplessness.
If the only answer to a build failure is to stare at config and wait for enlightenment, you fucked up.
The only functionality a CI tool should be providing is:
- starting and running an environment to build shit in
- accurately tracking success or failure
- accurate association of builds with artifacts
- telemetry (either their own or integration) and audit trails
- correlation with project planning software
- scheduled builds
- build chaining
That’s a lot, but it’s a lot less than any CI tool made in the last 15 years does, and that’s enough.
There’s a big difference for instance between having a tool that understands Maven information enough to present a build summary, and one with a Maven fetch/push task. The latter is a black box you can’t test locally, and your lead devs can’t either, so when it breaks, it triggers helplessness.
If the only answer to a build failure is to stare at config and wait for enlightenment, you fucked up.