Re: What about a user-contrib directory?
> What i would really like to see is a section for (though officially
> unsupported) user contributed packages like it is available with
> Redhat in their contrib directory.
I recently put my first package in unstable. It took a lot of time to
get all the rules correct (didn't even get a reject on first try !). But
it is worth it to get a well integrated uniform system.
> One of the major reasons of Redhat's popularity i definitely account
> for is the possibly to upload and make available RPM's by dedicated
> users of the Redhat distribution.
Is this true ? I don't doubt it, I just don't know. A while ago,
I was impressed by how much was included and well integrated into Debian.
> In comparison Debian's policy towards contributed packages appears to
> be rather closed although it's fundamental philosophy actually claims
> the opposite of being more open than any other distribution.
The question at hand has nothing whatsoever to do with the open-closed
development question. The licensing policy is very clear. If someone
really wants to get involved she just does it. (If I say 'she' enough,
maybe we'll get a few more)
Also, I simply had to comply with rules which are in the large neccessary
to attempt a degree of stability in a large system. I applied for a
password and got it.
> I learned making my own Debian packages mainly out of the need to keep
> my 'stable' based system up to date since i'm not very content with
> the way 'stable' is kept in tune with the release frequency of the
> upstream author's versions. This is valid even for the devel tree of
I agree with some of this. Perhaps a 'use-at-your-own-risk-and-we
-really-mean-it-this-time' section would be useful. Of course,
duplicate version numbers, etc. would have to be allowed. The users
will have to understand that this section has a much higher probability
of causing confusion than contrib and non-free. In any case, a very
clear distinction would have be made so that main, contrib and non-free
are seen to produce a much more coherent system.
A good idea is to find some like-minded people and try to
find a place to set up an ftp site for this stuff. That is, do it
yourself. If it really seems popular, then maybe Debian can consider
some changes.
G John Lapeyre <lapeyre@physics.arizona.edu>
Tucson,AZ http://www.physics.arizona.edu/~lapeyre
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