Re: Unsupported Debian [was: Re: [New maintainer] Working for De
Paul Seelig wrote:
> My number one frustrations with Debian is that it seems to forget about
> the users.
Interesting. MY number one frustration with Debian is that people keep
saying that. Every little problem, every small annoyance, is announced
as "Debian doesn't care about the users".
The First Rule of Pleasing Users: You can't figure out what they want
by guessing, or by extrapolating only from your own situation. You
have to do research.
\begin{rant}
> People who need to run a Debian "stable" and who on the other
> hand want to run more current package versions than the by now (almost)
> ancient ones offered within "stable", but who definitely can't afford the
> inherent risk connected with a switch to "unstable" do actually exist.
People who need to run a Debian "stable" can do so. People who want
updated packages for their soon-to-be-not-"stable" system can do so,
simply by compiling them. But if they "definitely" can't afford the
risk of tracking unstable, then I "definitely" urge them not to install
untested packages.
> What i'm missing *most* from Debian is a continous update of the released
> "stable" tree with more current versions of various packages (e.g. i
> really do miss the most recent teTeX-1.0x for "stable").
Hmm, I'd say there are several things that are missing more: Faster
installation, a better package selection tool, shorter release cycles,
and more active maintenance of central tasks and important packages.
I would never quibble with your priorities, though. If you think this
is what's missing most, then by all means work on it. Just don't tell me
I "forget about the users" because my priorities are different.
\end{rant}
> The raison d'etre of a great distribution like Debian can't only be it's
> development as main focus. Users like me (i feel more like a user than a
> developer) don't need tommorrow's solutions for today's needs.
If users don't need solutions for today's needs, then why are they so
eager to run the latest versions of their packages? The packages in
slink work just as fine today as when slink was released. Let us work
on tomorrow's solutions and release them tomorrow.
Richard Braakman
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