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Re: how many users is enough?



Hi,

Dňa Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:35:07 +0000 Jon Dowland <jmtd@debian.org>
napísal:

> Slavko phrased it as 'Ubuntu leaves 93 % of packages untouched', which
> does not imply that packages only existing in Ubuntu and not Debian
> are considered in that 7%.

I want no flame, i want point that compare the Ubuntu and Debian (in
mean of contribution and packaging) has different base only.

> > b. Some small percentage of Debian packages need to be "tweaked" to
> > accommodate minor differences between the Ubuntu and Debian
> > environments.
> 
> So 7% of packages are tweaked, but that says nothing about how big
> the tweaks are, which was my point.

I did search and i found the source, here it is:
http://raphaelhertzog.com/2010/11/22/how-ubuntu-builds-up-on-debian/

The numbers are 2 years old, and can be different now. But, IMO, the
exact numbers are not fundamental here.

> > Now where the number of users/contributors might really come into
> > play is when it comes to maintaining/developing those aspects of
> > Debian and Ubuntu that are unique to the respective distros (e.g.,
> > their installers and package repositories).
> 
> One of the most important contributions one can make to Debian is to
> find, diagnose, test and fix bugs. They can exist in any package in
> the repository, not just those that are OS-specific, or particularly
> heavily customized in each OS - and how well that process works is 
> directly impacted by the number of users.

You are right, of course, bug hunting is simplest contribution. A lot
of people think, that for contribution they must know C, C++ or similar.
But testing & bugreporting can be done by anyone (only English is
needed). But, it can be sometime terrible. I have one package in mind -
the lightdm and its autologin feature - communication with maintainer
was terrible and caused, that i will don't fill bug for this package in
future.

There are other ways to contribute too - the translation, for example,
webpage, package's descriptions, documentation, etc. I mean
translation of the Debian's specific things.

And finally, there is this user mail list, where can be contribution
done too - by helping to others :-)

This last point of contribution is essential in Ubuntu/Debian
comparing. The Ubuntu users seems to be more visible by amount of their
forums, mail lists, articles, etc. The Ubuntu's howtos and articles
helps are mostly useful for Debian too. But i latest time i read
something about commercialization of the Ubuntu (if i proper remmeber,
Cannonical tell something about new OS, but Linux based), i am not sure
how this Ubuntu's users contribution will be in future and who will be
profit from it.

regards

-- 
Slavko
http://slavino.sk

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