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Re: Has Debian abandoned Python?



Steve Langasek wrote:
> No, because it's no longer an objective measure of whether the
> maintenance of the package is adequate.  Your definition of "adequate"
> maintenance is now based on how Debian is doing *compared to* Ubuntu,
> which is not a standard that would be used anywhere else!

You are skewing my arguments in a way that I find distasteful.

The basic point in my mails was that there is a maintainer who is 
responsible for Python in both Debian and Ubuntu, and while the Ubuntu 
packaging has made progress, the Debian packaging *over a substantial 
period of time* has not while that maintainer has also not participated on 
the debian-python mailing list.

The conclusion in the first mail was that that maintainer is apparently no 
longer sufficiently motivated to perform his responsibilities as the 
maintainer of a core package in Debian.

The reasons are secondary, but IMO there definitely is a pattern that when 
DDs get employed by Canonical they get so swamped with Ubuntu work that 
Debian gets pushed to the background.
I've also said that I have no problem with that - people do lose motivation 
or simply don't have the spare time anymore for any number of reasons.

But I do feel that someone in that specific position should do the right 
thing and step down as lead maintainer for the Debian package which would 
immediately free him to do whatever he wants for Ubuntu (although 
collaboration with the Debian Python maintainers would of course still be 
a very good thing). It would also break the current deadlock for Debian by 
enabling others within Debian to step in and push Python forward for 
Debian.

I have no problem with Ubuntu being ahead for shortish periods of time on 
anything. And when there are *different maintainers* of a package for the 
two distributions there is no hard obligation for Ubuntu to actively push 
back to Debian.
But when you have a core package maintained by one and the same person, I 
do think that that person has a moral obligation to maintain his package 
as well and as timely for Debian as he does for Ubuntu.

Given all the loud noise made by Canonical about collaboration and giving 
back, I also think that Canonical (more than any other random employer) 
has a responsibility to actively avoid leaving Debian in the kind of 
deadlock we currently have for Python.

> If you don't believe this is true, then why are we having this
> discussion about python, and not about:

Because those are utterly different cases.


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