Re: ccache 4: severe bloat, bulk builds?

Jonathan Perkin <[email protected]> Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:39:01 +0100
Newsgroups gmane.os.netbsd.devel.packages
Message-ID <[email protected]>
* On 2026-06-25 at 13:24 BST, Greg Troxel wrote:

>  Is anyone using ccache with bulk builds (bob or pbulk)?  If so, which
>  ccache version?
>
>  How do people feel about the concept?  It seems one often starts over,
>  and it's good to reuse compilation output, if the inputs matched.

I've never used ccache for full bulk builds.  I should probably put some 
numbers on it at some point, but my intuition says it would require a 
gigantic amount of disk space for minimal gains at best.

I would also worry about the potential for cached objects being used 
when things change either in pkgsrc or on the build host leading to very 
difficult to debug issues, though this may be unfounded.

Plus then I have another thing to manage, perform periodic cleanup, etc.

Similar to my feelings on autoswc (especially nervous about false 
positives), I've always tried to focus on more architectural and cleaner 
performance wins rather than resorting to caches.

I think ccache makes great sense if you're developing a single project 
and do a lot of rebuilds.

-- 
Jonathan Perkin                    pkgsrc.smartos.org
Open Source Complete Cloud   www.tritondatacenter.com