LWN.net Logo

Debian turns ten

Debian turns ten

Posted Aug 17, 2003 17:39 UTC (Sun) by josh_stern (guest, #4868)
In reply to: Debian turns ten by njhurst
Parent article: Debian turns ten

Me too (use uptodate Debian unstable). I suspect what the
poster above means about reasons not relevant to 99.9% of
users is, when one delves into the question of why the
next stable release is taking so long, issues like 'the
boot disks for the m68k distribution aren't ready yet'
or something along those lines. One could argue that
the good of the many would be better optimized by allowing
the release schedule for the different hardware platforms
to become staggered when necessary to accomodate timely
releases containing broadly desired updates to core system
components.


(Log in to post comments)

Debian turns ten

Posted Aug 18, 2003 23:29 UTC (Mon) by Peter (guest, #1127) [Link]

One could argue that the good of the many would be better optimized by allowing the release schedule for the different hardware platforms to become staggered when necessary

Consider that Debian is the only major Linux distribution where non-i386 architectures are considered first-class citizens (excluding single-arch distros like YDL) and it seems they intend to keep it that way. By treating portability bugs as release-critical, they force maintainers not to sweep them under the rug, and thereby make it possible to maintain a single archive most of which works out-of-the-box on 12 architectures.

Think of Debian as the equivalent of an ADA-compliant Linux distribution. Sure, maybe 99% of people have little need for ramps as an alternative to stairs, but the Debian policy is "nevertheless, we will provide ramps, and we refuse to just build a building first, let it operate with stairs only for awhile, and add the ramps later when it's convenient".

Debian turns ten

Posted Aug 19, 2003 5:04 UTC (Tue) by josh_stern (guest, #4868) [Link]

Bad analogy...

Using m68K-based (old) computer = choice.
Confined to wheelchair = non-choice

% of Linux community using m68k = miniscule
% of public with ambulatory disability = more than miniscule

One rev back from latest software on linux m68k = small hobby problem
Unable to access essential public facilities = big life problem

One can always ride any purported inequality issue like a
hobby horse. Suppose someone claims that all releases should
be held until every package is fully internationalized in, say,
the 50 most popular languages. Why is your m68k position more
legitimate than that one?






Copyright © 2008, Eklektix, Inc.
Comments and public postings are copyrighted by their creators.
Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds