Re: Debian has failed us
Christian Perrier <bubulle@debian.org> wrote:
> Can you give us examples of actions from the D-I team who could be
> used as illustrations of negligence towards the powerpc architecture
> users?
Steve Langasek <vorlon@debian.org> wrote:
> It has already been explained that the bug at issue here has not made
> it into a debian-installer release candidate because there hasn't
> *been* a d-i release candidate yet using the 2.6.18 kernel. Claiming
> that the installer team has wronged Debian's users by not releasing
> such an update, when we are still missing a releasable kernel, are
> beyond the pale.
I have been downloading cd images from:
http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/powerpc/
because that's where the Debian website says to get them. None of the
images have worked for me because the installer has not been fixed.
I submitted that bug report 4 months ago, and I still cannot download an
image from that page that works.
Now granted, I didn't know that there hasn't been a new release of
debian installer in a few months, but that in itself is pretty damning.
What if, four months later, I try to install the OS again, and find a
different bug somewhere else that prevents me from installing?
Should I (or any other Debian user) expect to wait *MONTHS* to fix basic
bugs in testing releases? At that rate, Etch will be frozen, released,
dead, buried, and decomposed before I could get it to work on our
machines. That's not the kind of OS I'm willing to bet my job on.
The debian-installer people are dragging their feet waiting to release a
kernel that will work on my architecture. They didn't have to wait
until 2.6.18 was released. They could have simply recompiled 2.6.17
with the driver I needed, but in 4 months they didn't.
I'm not sure whether that is due to perfectionism, laziness, or
whatever. I'm not looking at the cause, only the result, and the result
is a broken process that is not responsive to the users.
The debian-powerpc are pointing their finger at the debian-installer
people, saying "it isn't my fault". Well, it isn't their fault, but
it's definitely their problem. If you want to lead the PowerPC port,
the buck stops on your desk. One of your responsibilities is to produce
releases that your users can use. Right now, you are releasing testing
images that I can't actually test.
I'm sure that there are various reasons/excuses running through your
collective minds why it's not your fault, it's someone else not doing
their job, and Mathew Binkley is an asshat. Tough. You want to lead
the PowerPC port, then you better show leadership and fix the problem.
Right about now, I'm expecting several people to chime in "we've fixed
the problem already on our installers, and you're an idiot, just go here
to get it". I, and probably most of humanity with a job and a life,
don't have time to dig through the entire website. When we see a link
on the front page of the Debian website that says "click here to
download testing iso's", we expect it to be exactly that. Again, it may
not be your fault, but it's your problem.
Several other things to say, but I have to go fix a problem with our
email server. It's not my fault, but it is my problem, and I'm expected
to fix it.
Mat
Reply to: