Re: Was the release of Debian 2.0 put on
Marcus Johnson wrote:
>
> As a newbie to Linux and Debian I have to say I almost entirely agree
> with George, and had even thought about writting something on this
> subject myself. Before I understood about the numbering system it
> really threw me for a loop to hear that my ISP was using Debian 1.1
> (he's very conservative), but that Red Hat was on 5.1 . I was like
> "huh? is this all the same OS we're talking about here? Then my ISP
> said "well the kernal is only stable at version 1.(something or
> other - which was true at the time a few months back). And what that
> did was to enlighten me that their might be some OTHER numbers
> besides the distrib # that I should pay attention to. This is really
> quite confusing to the newcomer, and a good comparison number
> (perhaps the LSB?) would be very useful so that people can shop for
> distributions intelligently. I don't think we need to erect any
> artificial barriers to entry -- learning Linux is already challenging
> enough. It would be great to be able to focus on just one number.
>
> My perception is that Linux is on the verge of an explosion. I can
> use myself as an example. I am not the kind of guy who just likes to
> fool with technical stuff for the hell of it -- like that amusing
> exchange yesterday between a couple of guys commenting about how
> Debian was getting too easy to use and that they had to break things
> intentionally to make life exciting. ;-) Linux has been largely
> founded on this kind of person so far. But now you are about to see
> the next wave hit. I (and others like me) am the kind of
> forward-looking person who when I see the usefulness of something, I
> jump on it (but not until its use becomes appearent and accesible). I
> am perpetually ahead of the main body and I am a natural evangelist.
> I and people like me lead others who are of the main body into new
> endevours (in this case Linux). You might not care for the unwashed
> masses, but don't look now, but a very big wave of them is coming our
> way.
>
> I know its been comfortable being part of a small, tightly-knit
> community. Like it or not though, things are changing. I see the
> challenge as this -- is the Debian community scalable? Can we
> handle, accept, nay welcome the infusion of fresh ideas and
> personalities into our community? Or do we shrink from the challenge
> and run away and hide? If we aren't growing (in some sense of the
> word, not necessarily numerically) then we are dying. The choice is
> ours -- to live and grow or die.
Generally, I agree with you, but the 'live and grow or die' line is a
bit drastic (hope you have your flameproof suit on - that line might
attract a little heat (-: ). Debian will live on for as long as Linux
lives, I think, but in what *capacity* is the question.
The issue is whether Debian will remain a mainstream Linux dist with a
wide user base, and thus influence in the Linux community, or whether it
becomes a niche product (for servers only, for example), relegated to a
permanent 2nd or 3rd rate status among dists.
--
Ed
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