DebConf16 LSB BoF
Hi there,
this is _very_ long overdue, but here come the notes taken collectively during
DebConf16's LSB BoF. I'll put the takeaways first.
# tl;dr
Given that the word about lsb not being granted anymore might not have spread
enough, <odyx> will try to work towards producing an 'lsb-compat' package (see
'C' proposal below), ideally to be uploaded to NEW in the next days.
# Gobby notes
## Short history
2002 - LSB 1.1 first package in Debian
2004 - Chris Lawrence <lawrencc> as maintainer
LSB 2
2005 - LSB 3
2006 - LSB 3.1
2008 - LSB 3.2
2012 - Didier Raboud <odyx> becomes maintainer
Starts merge from Ubuntu
Left green [ OK ] blocks
LSB 4.1
2013 - Lots of cleanup
More merge from Ubuntu
2014 - Growing concerns about LSB in general
DebConf14 BoF discussing LSB on the long-term
Baseline was "want LSB? → Help LSB"
2015 - LSB 5 released, not adapted for Debian
9.20150826 upload
Dropping all non-mandatory LSB packages
LSB is about binary compatibility
Debian doesn't check that it satisfies LSB
Debian wouldn't alter its packages to satisfy the LSB
Debian is not LSB-certified (no-one is)
It's therefore better to drop our pseudo-support instead of
continuing to pretend we have correct support
2016 - Ubuntu notices EPSON still releases printer driver packages
depending on the `lsb` package, and partially reverts the
packages drop in a Stable Release Update (xenial 9.20160110ubuntu0.1)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/lsb/+bug/1536353
## As Debian; what do we do about that ?
* There are packages out there that continue to depend on lsb, or lsb-*
* We don't have a list.
* We know of:
- epson-inkjet-printer-201106w (.deb converted from .rpm usig alien)
Depends: lsb (>= 3.2)
- google-earth depends on lsb-core, needs the ldconfig symlinks
- FlexLM licensing software
* It is a user service question.
There are 3 options:
A) Nothing
Try applying our levers on EPSON (and others)
That was kinda the original plan; that the removal would bring
awareness of the problem.
B) Ubuntu way
Re-add lsb, lsb-printing and lsb-security to have
epson-inkjet-printer-201106w be installable and runnable.
C) Debian way ?
New binary package:
lsb-compat (9.20160728)
Provides: lsb (= 4.1), lsb-printing (= 4.1), lsb-security (= 4.1),
lsb-core (= 4.1)
Replaces: ^
Breaks:
Depends: whatever was in lsb4.1 and that is needed by the above
"known packages"
(Added by Ubuntu: libjpeg62)
Debian bug: #609882
- Release notes entry
debian-lsb@lists.debian.org
D) Fix the LSB & provide the minimal subset of LSB 5
# Conclusions
The current maintainer <odyx> is uninterested to work on LSB 5 support, and
uninterested by a full reintroduction of a subset of LSB packages. Unless
someone else steps in, he'll try to produce a working lsb-compat package (see
'C' proposal above), ideally uploaded to NEW before mid-october.
--
Cheers,
OdyX
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