(note: These are my own comments and not that of Debian) On Fri, Apr 06, 2007 at 08:43:09PM +0100, John Watson wrote: > Some fantastic ideas > > > First of all I would like to say how great Debian is as a operating system and > a linux distro. I have tried many distribution but always come back to Debian. Thanks for choosing Debian. > What I find wrong with these so called distros is that they always > artificially alter components, components deleted/missing and loads of > useless bells and whistles that never work..... I have some ideas which may or > may not improve the project or least something to discuss about...... Debian in order to comply with the DFSG alters packages, also. > > 1) I just find that releases are being delayed due to the obsession with > security. If Microsoft was Debian then Microsoft would only be releasing > Windows XP now, understanding security and reliability is important however > there needs to be a cut off point. Each distro has its release goals. Debian tries to focus on security and rc bugs and releases when it feels it has met each of its release goals. Why would we want to be lax on security and have folks call is the microsoft of the free software world? > > I would suggest having two releases of Debian, one "really stable" which could > be released every 2 years, another one "stable" released every 6 months by > taking a freeze of the current "testing" distro and spending a month (no more) > fixing any major bugs. I personally believe the "testing" version is as stable > as many of the other distros in the market. I normally use the testing version > however when it comes to a release of the stable version, updates on testing > are few with a increase temptation to switch to a different distro. The released versions of Debian are for supporting critical infrastrure but also is used for desktops. This reduces support costs and increases managability. If you want something more 'current' for desktops, then 'testing' or even ubuntu may be used, if you dont mind the risk. So you can do this now, no need for another choice. > 2)One real issue with Debian is a lack of admin tools, (such as yast is for > SuSE). Considering starting a project to develop a range of gui based admin > tools for Debian. Debian has admin tools, although most of them are not gui. Webmin was in debian at some point but was not being maintained and was removed and afaik no one has resumed maintaining it. There was also a project started to port yast to debian, afaik this project is still incomplete and needs folks to step-up and move things along. So many folks use non-gui tool but if you know folks who want to improve the gui tools, direct them to the webmin or yast for Debian projects. If you have others you can recommend, use the 'rfp' (request for package) in the wnpp psuedo-package in the BTS (bug tracking system) at bugs.debian.org. > What are folks view on this and is there any other similar projects? > > 3)What drives the development of other distros is money, any investment into > the opensource community, virtually 100% of this is spent on research and > development. Any purchase of proprietary software such as windows only 15% of > the cost is spent on research and development. There is major advantages for > business and individuals to invest in free software, however what framework > is place?. If I donate a million pounds to the Debian cause, what happens to > this investment? The closest way I know to invest in FLOSS is with 'bounties', there are a few websites that I recall seeing on the intraweb including the one on the ubuntu site. Spending money in FLOSS projects is a very devisive issue, one that needs to be researched more before it can be used more. > > If such a framework was in place it could increase investment resulting in > increase development and interest in the project. A typical example ... <how to spend money> > > So those are the ideas, now flame me. -- | .''`. == Debian GNU/Linux == | my web site: | | : :' : The Universal |mysite.verizon.net/kevin.mark/| | `. `' Operating System | go to counter.li.org and | | `- http://www.debian.org/ | be counted! #238656 | | my keyserver: subkeys.pgp.net | my NPO: cfsg.org | |join the new debian-community.org to help Debian! | |_______ Unless I ask to be CCd, assume I am subscribed _______|
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