Re: Neat gtk/gdk-imlib pain

["Ean R . Schuessler" <ean@novare.net>]

On Wed, Feb 03, 1999 at 01:51:52PM -0800, Jim Pick wrote:
> > Why not make sure all gnome libs and apps are reasonably compatible with
> > each other (all apps being compiled against the same libs), before being
> > put into the main archive? As it stands now you have some libs which are
> > updated more often than the apps (or other linked libs) can be recompiled
> > against the new versions. Perhaps setting up an announce list for gnome
> > packagers to inform them that they should recompile their packages against
> > the new version.
> 
> That's not a bad idea.  Although I don't think the problem is that the
> users of the imlib/gnome libraries are unaware of the new libraries -
> rather, they don't have enough time to be constantly
> updating/recompiling their packages.
> 
> Part of the reason we call the devel branch of Debian 'unstable' is
> because we do things like upload libraries that may break other
> things.  It would be nicer if we didn't have to -- but that's life.
> There is a limit to the amount of 'pain' the developers are willing to
> endure, of course.

I know painfully little about the complexities of managing dynamic
libraries and the detection of their incompatibilities so forgive
this ignorant intrusion. Listening to this conversation, however,
makes me think about some conversations regarding the "unstable"
distribution. Would it be more practical to have a staging
distribution that actually proceeds "unstable"? Truthfully, unstable
is _so_ unstable that it is often unusable. On the other hand, stable
is too important to casually move anything into. This seems to
suggest a place for an intermediate role. Something like:

unstable   packages moved in immediatly from incoming. might work,
           probably doesn't. you should definatly know what you are
           doing if you are installing packages from here.

usable     packages are moved into usable selectively from the
           unstable dist. packages are moved in groups when it is
           widely rumored that they seem to be working togethor.
           While this is not a "stable" distribution per se, it is
           likely that a well prepared developer can aim apt at the
           distribution and upgrade regularly without undue suffering.

stable     the last stabilized, frozen, checked, certified and
           blessed release. 


Alternatively, "unstable" could be called "incoming" and "usable"
called "unstable" to reduce the mirroring headaches.

-- 
_______________________________________________________________________
Ean Schuessler                Director of New Products and Technologies
Novare International Inc.        The Unstoppable Fist of Digital Action
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