Volunteering individuals run the autobuilds. This is a script that runs automatically that:
- checks out the latest code from the git repository
- builds everything
- runs the test suite
- sends the full log over email to the curl server
As they are then run on different platforms with different build options, they offer an extra dimension of feedback on curl build health.
All logs are parsed, managed and displayed on the curl site.
We started the autobuild system in 2003, a decade before CI jobs started becoming a serious alternative.
Now, the autobuilds are more of a legacy system as we are moving more and more into a world with CI and more direct and earlier feedback.