Re: dpkg semi-hijack - an announcement (also, triggers)

[Mike Bird <mgb@yosemite.net>]

On Sun March 9 2008 13:44:08 Roger Leigh wrote:
> I seriously can't believe that you hijacked this over a disagreement
> about the definition/usage of NULL.  Include <stdlib.h> and be done
> with it already--it's not like this is a pressing or difficult problem
> that warranted this action!

Roger,

NULL is just a minor distraction.

Ian hijacked his own program back from the people who had been blocking
updates for six months - including the triggers enhancement which is
needed for boot time improvements and which should simplify some other
packaging issues.  This is not some hairy untested update - it has been
working well in Ubuntu for a long time.  There is no good reason why
Debian is lagging Ubuntu by six months on our own packaging tool.

The excuse given by the somewhat less than stellar dpkg team is that they
need more time to understand the changes.  If you look at the changes in
git you'll see they are not small but neither are they particularly large,
and that they are clear and even documented.  There's nothing there that
should have taken more than a couple of days to review.  By blocking
functionality for six months the old dpkg team has actively harmed Debian.

Yet another distraction raised by the dpkg blocking team is that they want
Ian to rebase.  They insist it is their team policy, but when asked they
point to a policy that recommends that the developer choose whether to
rebase and gives no role to other team members in deciding whether the
developer should rebase.  Raphael has been given ample opportunity to post
a link to a different policy or to retract his claims.  He has chosen to
do neither, which for me personally means I can no longer trust Raphael.

Now Anthony Towns has leapt in with both feet and handed dpkg back to the
obstructionists.  If Anthony has posted an explanation I have not seen
it.  You will recall Anthony - he alienated many Debian developers with
the Dunk-Tank fiaco and thereby significantly delayed the release of Etch.
This apparently makes Anthony a natural ally of the dpkg blocking team.

--Mike Bird