Re: Proposal: let’s have a GR about the init system
Colin Watson wrote:
> I've done some work on Upstart itself and a good deal more designing
> subsystems around it; no doubt that experience will have a bearing on my
> vote. The other Technical Committee members will also surely bring
> relevant experience of one kind or another to the table, as we've all
> worked on a wide range of systems with considerations that relate to the
> varying designs of systemd and Upstart.
It unfortunately seems that nobody on the ctte is particularly familiar
with systemd though (unless someone there has studied it in private), so
a decision would need to be mainly based on evaluating the
representations of others.
> Anticipating the kind of
> accusation that Bastien makes, I talked with Bdale at DebConf in his
> capacity as TC chair and asked whether he felt I should recuse myself; I
> don't remember exactly the words he used but I think it was something
> along the lines of TC members not needing to recuse themselves just
> because they happen to have relevant technical experience.
> One thing I will say here and now: if I feel under pressure from my
> employer to vote a particular way, then I will immediately recuse myself
> from the vote and from further part in the discussion. I'd hope that
I don't think the technical experience would be that much of an issue,
but I do see being employed by Canonical as a very substantial conflict
of interest. IIRC Canonical has made an official statement that they
will keep supporting Upstart and believe in it. This is a fairly visible
company choice. Your work environment has at least at some level an
official policy that Upstart should be considered better than systemd.
Ubuntu still wants to keep using Upstart, but if Debian chooses systemd,
Ubuntu will likely also need to admit that Upstart failed and plan for a
switch.
If your vote decides that Debian will choose systemd, and as a result
upstreams conclusively drop any support for Upstart while Ubuntu still
wants to keep using it, do you believe this will not have any negative
consequences for your career at Canonical? I consider this the biggest
question about the conflict of interest, more than direct "you must vote
this way" pressure from your employer.
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