Who is "Lenny" and why should I do anything for him?

Posted Oct 7, 2008 2:41 UTC (Tue) by k8to (guest, #15413)
In reply to: Who is "Lenny" and why should I do anything for him? by buchanmilne
Parent article: What you can do for "Lenny"

Sorry all naysayers.

The choice of referring to debian projects solely by unsortable codenames when it is generally known the release order is hiding information and stupid.

The names used to refer to successive releases of the SAME THING should be sortable, so that users can determine the order. When referring to an imminent release, one shuld use turns of phrase such as:

"Lenny", the upcoming release of Debian Stable, currently in release process, optimistically expected to complete this year.

Of course this is insufficient, since the version number has undoubtedly been selected by now and should also be invoked, regardless of whatever phantom menaces you can conjure about CD-Rom sales. And the codename, as above needs to be sortable.

Who is "Lenny" and why should I do anything for him?

Posted Oct 7, 2008 16:11 UTC (Tue) by allesfresser (guest, #216) [Link] (2 responses)

If you don't already know what Lenny is, then the content of this article is useless to you, since you haven't been paying attention to Debian enough to know what the upcoming stable release's name is, which has been named for quite a few MONTHS now, and therefore you wouldn't be of much help (or even desire to help) since you're not familiar with how things have been progressing. So, just go on to other articles. Why annoy everyone else who actually is the target audience for the article? This is the way things are done with this project--if you don't like it, start participating enough to know what's going on before insisting that things change to suit your preference.

Who is "Lenny" and why should I do anything for him?

Posted Oct 7, 2008 18:05 UTC (Tue) by hppnq (guest, #14462) [Link]

Some people like to spend time arguing about, say, conventions, instead of, say, simply reading the first line of the article they are commenting on. Happens all the time.

But what is this dodgy "Debian" people keep talking about?!

Who is "Lenny" and why should I do anything for him?

Posted Oct 7, 2008 18:33 UTC (Tue) by alfille (subscriber, #1631) [Link]

Homeless Lenny? Plausible. There are enough personality conflicts in the Debian project that wondering whether Lenny is human or intangible is valid. At least at first glance.

This is just like reviewing program code. Everything can be unobfuscated with enough effort, but clarity has many advantages.

We read LWN for a higher level view of the linux development scene. I assume that the editor was so immersed in Debian that he automatically knew what Lenny meant. I know that I didn't.

While the vehemence of the original complaint is misplaced, the point is valid.