Re: Debian Etch Stable.
"Anthony Towns" wrote
> Personally, I'd say that now would be the time for any anti-payment
> people to say "we can do this better, and look, we'll prove it"
> ....
> I've been told they're probably too cynical to try...
Well, one of the main criticisms against the experiment was that it might
de-motivate developers by making them feel less valued. Asking them now to
prove they are not "cynical" by "demonstrat[ing] how much energy and
effort can be mustered" seems somewhat unfair.
Now I'm a newcomer[1], not even a DD, so maybe I should have kept quiet.
But I aim to be a DD one day, and I hope that by the time I'm ready Debian
will still be something I want to be involved with. Personally I'm unsure
about dunk-tank. On the one hand, unpredictable release dates and
out-of-date packages are just about the only criticisms that are ever
raised against Debian - so it's great that someone is trying out new
ideas. But the cost in terms of the loss of developers' goodwill etc. is
immense. Can any resulting improvement to the release schedule really
justify this schism between developers?
As I said, I'm a newcomer, and this is (roughly) what was said when I
explained to my wife why I wanted to spend the odd hour in the evening in
front of a computer screen:
Me: "I like the Debian project, and I think I'd fit in there as a
developer".
My wife: "But you won't get paid?"
Me: "No. I want to do it because I think they are doing a worthwhile
job, and there's none of the c**p associated with my day job".
My wife: "So no-one gets paid for it?".
And I think that hits the nail on the head - we are all willing to work
for nothing on something worthwhile, providing we are all in the same
boat.
[1] http://qa.debian.org/developer.php?login=paul-debian@home.paulcager.org
Paul
Reply to: