Allow chef_version to use Gem version semantics?

[docwhat]

Can we allow chef_version to handle Gem version semantics, such as `~> 11.12'?

It would let us set sane minimums without requiring specific versions.

[tmatilai]

The version number is passed to the Omnitruck API, which doesn't support RubyGems operators. It does support specifying only the major or major plus minor versions, which I think won't pass out validation though.

Of course it would be possible to add our own logic on top of Omnitruck, but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort.

[docwhat]

Hmm... yeah. Tricky.

Maybe a new attribute chef_version_check or something that can be turned into a Gem::Requirement so you can do a satisfied_by? check to decide to even ask the Omnitruck API?

Because, technically, you have two checks there:

1. Decide if you want to install or not
2. Omnitruck returning the version

You could add support for Omnitruck API's one-part and two-part version numbers (e.g. 11 or 11.12) which it resolves to 11.12.8-2...

And shouldn't config.rb's retrieve_latest_chef_version() use the Omnitruck API as well? It'd have to be postponed until the install_chef.rb code runs.

Hmm.. except the stupid metadata method doesn't actually return the version number.

You could cheat by using http://www.getchef.com/chef/full_client_list which returns a giant JSON blob with all supported versions. 😁 But then you have do version handling yourself... and weed out the pre-release ones (like the rc ones).