Re: Bizarre error running a program linked against a shared lib (help please!)
James Troup <james@nocrew.org> writes:
> Is there a good reason why Debian is using CVS binutils (even in
> unstable)? I mean, it might be nice to have a little stability in our
> tool chain if nothing else...
It's not just a binutils problem; it's a pervasive Debian problem.
We seem to have a LOT of packages which use pre-release software.
For example, fileutils in potato is 4.0l. If you look at the actual
ftp.gnu.org, you will see that the current fileutils is version 4.0,
and that Debian is using unreleased software for fileutils.
One of my other hats is a GNU maintainer, the upstream guys for such
things, and it's a *REAL* annoyance to have end users using pretest
software. It's an *alpha test*, and the Debian maintainer has decided
that every Debian user should be alpha testing.
Now that's wrong in two ways: first, it abuses the upstream
maintainer, who does not want total randoms participating in the alpha
test; at a minimum, the upstream maintainer wants people in the alpha
test to at least know they are participating in a test.
And second, it fails to give Debian users the most reliable software.
It could be defended if and only if the relevant Debian maintainer
will take upon themselves the responsibility of fixing any and all
bugs that might happen, and getting them into the stable updates
process. And that just doesn't actually happen.
Thomas
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