Re: Technical Committee: decision on #119517?

[Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org>]

>>"Anthony" == Anthony Towns <aj@azure.humbug.org.au> writes:

 Anthony> On Sun, Apr 28, 2002 at 02:22:41PM -0500, Manoj Srivastava wrote:
 >> There is also the matter of perception (quality of
 >> implementation is a subjective matter). 

 Anthony> There're other quality of implementation issues that affect
 Anthony> such perceptions too, though:

	Sure, there are bazillions of such cfriteria, and each one
 adds to the reputation. Or detracts from it

 Anthony> one is the number of pointless little packages you have to
 Anthony> find and install to have your system continue working the
 Anthony> way it used to.

	If you are talking about holding the package count to a
 reasonable number, easily encompassed by a user, you have already
 lost. 

	What we need is to make package selection, and presenting the
 user with related packages, and making package selection a useful, if
 not enjoyable, experience.

	By degrading user experience by presenting packages with
 programs that are broken when properly installed helps nobody.


 Anthony> "Programs" is not a good division to make. "Packages"
 Anthony> is. "Features" is.  What's a "program" and what isn't is an
 Anthony> implementation detail, and little more.
 >> But people interact with programs, really, not packages. We
 >> had an invariant: set up a package right, and things work as
 >> advertised. 

 Anthony> We've never had that invariant. pcmcia-cs has been this way
 Anthony> for ever, apt-preconfigure has been this way since woody,
 Anthony> and there're a handful of other packages which have moved
 Anthony> from or to it at various times.

	And I posit these packages have had intermittent bugs. We
 certainly have never had a bug free release since I joined the
 project in '95, no.

 Anthony> If you install all the dependencies, and nothing more, all
 Anthony> your programs will work, except for a few that you don't
 Anthony> care about anyway that have good reason to be as they are.

	I see. I think your telepathic abilities are working less well
 than you imagine.

	manoj
-- 
 This is a logical analogy too... anyone who's been around, knows the
 world is run by paenguins.  Always a paenguin behind the curtain,
 really getting things done.  And paenguins in politics--who can deny
 it? Kevin M. Bealer, commenting on the penguin Linux logo
Manoj Srivastava   <srivasta@debian.org>  <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024R/C7261095 print CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05  CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B  924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C


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