Re: Outsider's observation upon the pros and cons of Debian
A very nice post! I, too, stopped reading the other thread after about
five messages, when it became clear it devolved into a flame war.
As another outsider, rank amateur, and Linux more-or-less newb, I'd just
like to offer the following considerations:
1) Debian is characterized as "the Univeral Operating System." Its
commitment to OSS and to remain free-as-in-speech/free-as-in-beer is
probably the main reason I decided to use it, even though there are
easier distributions for people like me who have no techie background
and are, at best, moderately adept ordinary users. It's my feeling that
an open list -- one to which people can contribute and turn to for help,
even without subscribing -- is more in keeping with Debian's mission
than a closed list. Yeah, that creates some problems that wouldn't
exist if the list was closed, but sticking to free software on principle
creates problems that wouldn't exist if proprietary solutions were
welcomed. Flexibility and openness to new ideas are important, as long
as the central mission isn't compromised. There have to be some lines
drawn somewhere that are critical to preserving that mission.
Certainly, reasonable people can disagree about where exactly those
lines should be drawn, but the final decisions have to be up to the
people willing to put in the time and effort to make Debian function.
At the end of the day, Debian is what it is and does what it does. We,
as users, either accept that or move on.
2) This list can be accessed through USENET, either via a newsreader or
via Google Groups. That seems to me to be a reasonable alternative for
people who want to follow the list without being innundated with email.
It doesn't solve all the issues raised by the list being open, but it
goes a long way, I think, to being a decent solution for people who have
issues with the way the list is administered.
I hope none of that sounds like "if you don't like it, leave." I think
Debian is perhaps the most welcoming and flexible of all Linux distros,
in that it can be tailored for advanced users, for specific purposes, or
for neophytes (who, at least, are willing to try to learn some basics
about how all this works). I think that's one reason there are so many
Debian spin-off distros. Even though any of us might have issues with
the way certain aspects of Debian are managed, its important to remember
that Debian's core values are its reason for being, and the people who
make the decisions about how Debian is managed are (rightly, IMO) most
concerned with preserving those values.
--
Michael
Reply to: