Re: Squeeze Frozen, NOT
On Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:22:21 -0500 (EST), Freeman wrote:
> How "apt"ly named was squeeze, the release squeezed into only a year to
> adjust the package release cycle? And yet, I doubt that it was only I who
> doubted that plan. And, surely, many besides myself have felt this push in
> the form of a short but buggy season.
>
> So now what? If the gain on the cycle becomes 6 months instead of 1 year,
> do they truncate yet another release to close the remaining 6 months between
> the Big Brown One's and Debian's cycles?
>
> Why doesn't the Big Brown one wait a year. Their forums read like they could
> use some catching up.
I agree. There is a reason why Debian has made "server of the year"[1] for the
past two years. Historically, Debian has been released "when it's ready".
And while that has resulted in some frustration waiting for the new release
to go stable at times, it has also resulted in the most "bullet-proof" stable
release of any major distribution. Timed release cycles for Debian is a bad
idea. I have always thought so. Ubuntu only seems to care about the x86
architecture and its derivatives. Debian supports ten hardware platforms in
a stable release and work is underway for at least five more. With the combination
of ten hardware platforms and an enormous number (over 25,000) of packages,
Debian is HUGE. To maintain a distribution that large with such high historical
reliability is an amazing accomplishment.
Oh, and did I mention it's all
done by a surprisingly few number of volunteers in their spare time? To do that
and still maintain the extremely high level of quality in their stable releases
has only been possible because of Debian's historical policy of "it will be
released when it's ready, and not before". Trying to go to timed release cycles
is either futile or fatal. Debian is not Ubuntu. Debian is Debian. Let
it retain its unique characteristics. Of course, as my old boss used to say,
"My opinion, plus 50 cents, will get you a cup of coffee." (That was back in
the day when a cup of coffee cost 50 cents.) But for what it's worth, that
is my opinion.
[1] linuxquestions.org member poll
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