Lennert:
This isn't directed towards you, but a general remark is that all the talk about dropping arm as a release architecture over the last couple of years (for reasons that seem mostly beyond my control), and the resulting uncertainty has definitely made most of my motivation to work on the Debian ARM port disappear. I don't think anyone enjoys working on a project that is in a 'maybe-sort-of-almost-dropped' state pretty much all the time. Maybe the ARM port should just be dropped to have it over with.
Do you mean the "arm" port vs. "armel" and "armeb"? Or do you mean ARM targets in general?
I don't have a problem dropping the "arm" port but keeping armel and armeb, since the EABI stuff renders everything else obsolete. But if you're suggesting that Debian should drop all ARM targets entirely, I'm totally against that!
I think the problem with Debian for ARM targets is the same as for other non-x86 targets, in that there are limited resources for support because the required hardware and skills are hard to come by.
I would _gladly_ take on that responsibility, since I have the skills *and* the hardware, if I could find a way to do it and still keep my family fed (suggestions and purchase orders welcome!). It's a full-time job for someone, and you aren't going to keep someone with the right skills and hardware focused on it if they have to at the same time find an income from somewhere else. It's too big a job. That's reality. The limited opportunity I have for it now is often at the expense of other project work and family time, which is _not_ the way to grow and maintain a serious project.
Dunc-tank was a step in the right direction, and we see how that turned out. :(
Frankly, I think Debian is as awesome as it is _precisely because_ of its devotion to non-x86 targets (among other reasons, of course). I don't want to see that go away. Let's pool our resources, face reality, and find a way to give Debian for ARM the time and attention it deserves.
b.g. -- Bill Gatliff bgat@billgatliff.com