Bash 5.0 released

Posted Jan 12, 2019 14:43 UTC (Sat) by smurf (subscriber, #17840)
In reply to: Bash 5.0 released by rra
Parent article: Bash 5.0 released

I'm not blaming him. I'm saying that the practices of 20 years ago (a solo coder who periodically surfaces to release a tarball with the next version) do not make sense in today's world.

Chet may or may not want that responsibilty – but the fact is, he does have it. If he doesn't want it, then inviting collaborators and setting up a decent auditable workflow would seem to be a good idea. If he does, well, setting up a decent auditable workflow still is a good idea. We all make mistakes, and bash isn't exactly a simple program.

Bash 5.0 released

Posted Jan 12, 2019 15:29 UTC (Sat) by pizza (subscriber, #46) [Link]

Yes, today's world is not the same as the world 20 years ago. So why is today's world holding a solo coder to much higher (and time-consuming) standards while expecting said solo coder's compensation to be the same (ie nothing) as it was 20 years ago?

Bash 5.0 released

Posted Jan 12, 2019 18:43 UTC (Sat) by farnz (subscriber, #17727) [Link] (1 responses)

Why should Chet change a workflow that works for him just because other people have started to depend on his work without doing sufficient due diligence to ensure that what he's doing fits theit needs? Instead, why don't people who don't want to depend on Chet's workflow switch to one of dash, zsh or ksh (to name three Bourne shells that aren't bash). Alternatively, why don't people who care fork bash and work on it in ways that they think are better?

Basically, why should Chet be expected to change because other people like his work? Why can't his work be allowed to fade into historical obscurity?

Bash 5.0 released

Posted Jan 14, 2019 12:09 UTC (Mon) by Wol (subscriber, #4433) [Link]

> Basically, why should Chet be expected to change because other people like his work? Why can't his work be allowed to fade into historical obscurity?

Or, if people really do want to depend on his work, why can't they start paying him to do it!!!

I'm probably as much the cheapskate as anyone else, but I do try and give back in kind. If you're not prepared to "put your money where your mouth is" you have no right to moan, and if you are prepared then you probably have a far better view of the situation.

The reality is MUCH important software is in this sort of mess, because nobody is prepared to put their hand in their pocket. One piece of software I use has a sole dedicated developer, who is struggling to make ends meet and is also fighting illness. How's that fair? He's doing his best to support Free Software and not doing very well out of it ...

Cheers,
Wol