Re: User-contrib, up-to-date stable
On 23 Oct 1997, Paul Seelig wrote:
> I think it is a bad idea to have a directory "anybody can stuff
> packages into" without a certain control. Possible contributors
> should only be allowed to upload into an "incoming" directory and they
> really should have to identify themselves to some maintainer in charge
> of unofficial packages sending a mail telling him about the upload so
> that the package can be evaluated for a move to "user-contrib".
> Surely someone has to take care of this process.
But this is what we have now! A directory that people who have identified
themselves to a central authority can upload into, and the a maintainer
who takes care of putting them in the right place.
So I'd argue for keeping the current system, with some sort of
modification to allow for a moving "stable" directory. The major problem,
as I understand it, is that people want to have a "frozen" stable
directory so that "Debian 1.3.1" is always the same. Maybe what we need
is to do that, and also have a date system -- maintainers can upload into
"stable-updates", and this directory, after a month, will become
"Debian 1.3.1 updates as of \today". Then a new "stable-updates" is
created, which lasts for another month. That way there's time
(within the month) for bugs to be found and fixed, and also a way to keep
track of who's got which snapshots, etc.
A few problems with any of these schemes:
1) any of them make stable a little less guarunteed stable for those who
use the updates -- sort of an "unstable for wimps"
2) Somebody's got to update the packages. Most developers probably can't
keep 17 different machines around in 17 different states of upgrade to
keep recompiling stuff, but we probably don't want non-maintainers or
people who don't know the packages doing the updates either.
3) CD vendors are still going to be angry, but maybe not quite so much,
because they can simply say "This is Debian 1.3.1 with updates to 12/3/98"
and then say "For more recent updates point Dselect at the debian homesite
and make the directory 'stable-updates'"
4) Packages which depend on a certain update level -- say X needs the libs
from update#4, but you've already got #5 installed, and they're not
compatible ...
Will
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