Re: Why is troubleshooting Linux so hard?
On Mon Nov 15, 2010 at 15:19:27 -0500, Miles Fidelman wrote:
> Actually, that does suggest a policy-level, or perhaps
> kernel-level approach -- creating a stronger framework for
> logging, error-reporting, tracebacks, etc. The further upstream
> that's implemented, the more likely developers are to utilize
> well-defined and well-supported hooks.
What I was trying to suggest is that a "policy" is meaningless
because programs you use are written by different people, in different
places.
Debian policy generally refers to how Debian systems are put together
- i.e. Things we control. (Such as what information is provided
in package meta-data). Even in that case policy is only written after
it has been implemented. There is generally not a discussion,
then a policy, then an implementation. That is not the kind of
bureaucratic way that Debian is organized.
Debian policy wouldn't arbitrarily try to mandate how the software
we include is written because we simply have no control over that.
Sure we can and do patch some software, but to implement your
suggestion we'd have to patch many many many pieces of unrelated
software and that is not a simple thing. Nor would maintaining those
patches be easy.
(Not that I disapprove of your general idea; but consider would *you*
personally download the source to 100 applications, update them to log
in a consistent fashion, post the patches to the appropriate project's
discussion lists (if they even exist), then keep them updated for
a year or two? Even if you did who would handle the other few
thousand application binaries..)
Steve
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