optimization of this repository concerns

[robertkirkman]

Hello, I wanted to possibly engage in discussion with you about potential improvements to this repository.

I can see that the reason for the creation of this repository might be because of a problem involving the Termux package repository mirrors.

astral-sh/uv@f13abc3

termux-python/Dockerfile

Lines 5 to 8 in 483ce66

	# Termux package mirrors are notoriously unreliable, so we retry a few times
	# before giving up. Once this image is built and pushed to GHCR, downstream
	# consumers (e.g. uv's integration tests) get a stable, pre-baked environment
	# without hitting the mirrors at all.

I've noticed this message here, but as far as I can tell, there seems to have been no attempt yet made to use the correct method for setting the official Termux package repository mirror hosted by Cloudflare in GitHub Actions, which is this:

https://github.com/robertkirkman/termux-on-gha/blob/c3067cdf0a482c07c909ded0e863671e03b1d20d/.github/workflows/build-and-test.yml#L49-L50

ln -sf ${PREFIX}/etc/termux/mirrors/default ${PREFIX}/etc/termux/chosen_mirrors

the reliability of this mirror is significantly superior to all of the other Termux mirrors, and it also receives package updates first before any other Termux mirrors.

Would a change to replace this loop with an application of the correct default mirror setting code be something that a PR for would be welcome here, or is this more of a low-priority repository that the astral-sh organization just needs to work without any pressing need to try to optimize it?

termux-python/Dockerfile

Lines 10 to 15 in 483ce66

	for attempt in 1 2 3 4 5; do \
	pkg update -y && pkg install -y python \
	&& break; \
	echo "*** attempt $attempt failed, retrying in 10s…"; \
	sleep 10; \
	done \

[robertkirkman]

There's also a further concern that this repository currently uses this series of commands:

pkg update -y && pkg install -y python

unfortunately, that is incorrect. In the current version of Termux, pkg update should never be used immediately before pkg install, and pkg install never used on its own, without first using pkg upgrade before actually using pkg install. This thread contains detailed explanations of the reason why:

• [RFC] pkg: never implicitly update package cache without upgrading all packages termux/termux-tools#172

This situation might change in the future, depending on the further discussion and context in that PR.