Re: Should we divide Debian to usable and unusable
I agree that putting unusable software into the stable distribution is a Bad
Idea(tm) but that's what the BTS and the freeze exist for. A whole lot of
free software spends a long time in pre-1.0 stages. In the commercial arena,
we have beta test programs and whatnot to eliminate the need for pre-1.0
public releases, but it doesn't work that way for free software - in fact,
none of my packages are even at 1.0 yet and I find them extremely usable.
I've been using GIMP for various things since well before 1.0 as well. We
can't apply the same anti-beta senisibilities to free software since the
average free software developer doesn't have the resources to get a bunch of
beta testers to bang on it before a public release. If a package is
unusable, an RC bug will be filed. If it is not fixed by the time that
distribution freezes and hits its first bug horizon, it simply won't be in
stable. We already have quality control mechanisms in place to prevent the
distribution of unusable packages in stable (it is there, I don't want to
re-open the "shorter release cycle" can of worms in this thread), and free
software to some degree has always been about getting Joe Blow to test it
out for us. If it's unusable, file a bug and as long as it remains that way
it won't go into stable. If it's perfectly usable, as so many pre-1.0
packages are, then don't sweat it. Or at least that's my POV.
On Sun, Jun 04, 2000 at 11:10:59PM +0200, Robert Bihlmeyer <robbe@orcus.priv.at> spake forth:
> Josip Rodin <joy@cibalia.gkvk.hr> writes:
>
> > We simply shouldn't let all the
> > 0.0.0.1c6-prealpha-johnny-be-good-CVS20000604 versions get into
> > stable. That's achieved by filing RC bugs -- they either get fixed,
> > or packages get removed.
>
> Indeed. Sami can file RC bugs against the packages he deems unusable.
> I hope that version number is not the only criteria, though...
>
> Still, by packaging unusable software, one probably makes the release
> manager's life harder. It would be nice if developers marked (with RC
> bugs?) their package as "test balloon, should not go into stable yet"
> so that they are not even considered - that would pull the plug out of
> "why is ... removed, it works for me" whines.
--
Mike Markley <mike@markley.org>
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There is no gravity. The Earth just sucks.
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