On Lu, 03 mar 14, 13:56:45, Bret Busby wrote:
Apart from the systemd fight stuff, I am wondering, in the context
of the above message content, why a spearate firmware distribution
of Debian Linux, needs to exist, rather than the firmware being
included in the offical Debian version.
http://www.debian.org/social_contract
Important are specifically point 1. (of course) and DFSG 2., since for
most firmware the source is not available.
Also, and I do not know how applicable this is, to what is
happening, I wonder why Debian does not provide backward
compatibility with previous versions of Debian; why provision is not
made, to allow software that runs on Debian 5, to run on Debian 6
and Debian 7.
Because this quickly becomes a maintenance nightmare. This is just my
rough understanding, but I'm sure others will correct me if I'm wrong:
1. freeze the "base" system (system libraries and so)
This is what Microsoft has been doing with XP. This seamed to work well
for a while, except that at some point, no matter how many Service Packs
they applied to it, the OS was simply not be able to cope with the
changes around it. Eventually software programmers will want to use new
features of their languages and libraries, but over time this becomes
increasingly difficult and even impossible. And let's not forget about
deep (possible security related) bugs in the underlying system that just
can't be fixed by simple patches that don't affect the applications on
top.
2. Keep multiple versions of libraries around
Debian does that to some extent, but (depending on the library and how
the upstream developers handle changes to it) it quickly becomes too
difficult to maintain. The amount of maintenance work needed is likely
to increase geometrically or even exponentially with the number of
concurrent versions, and don't forget that the maintainer most likely
already has 3 (three) versions to care about: oldstable, stable and
testing/sid.
3. Extend the support times for a release
This is not really a solution, because at some point you will just end
up with 1., but if you're "lucky" this will give the developers of the
old software to migrate to the newer libraries, or the need will just go
away (as per your example below, the hardware gets replaced).
As a single example, I have a multifunction printer, of which, the
multifunctionality worked with Debian 5. Now, it is only a laser
printer, running with Debian 6 - to use it to scan, I have to scan
to a USB drive, and then copy the files to the computer, as Debian 6
(and, I believe, similarly, Debian 7) does not provide for the
device to wotk with it, other than using a printer driver that is
not for the particular model range, and, losing all other interfaced
functionality.
Based on this I'm guessing the MFP needs proprietary closed source
software provided by the manufacturer, but not updated for current Linux
releases. Of course, the manufacturer wants you to buy new hardware, not
keep using the old one, even if it still suits your needs.
Given enough cooperation by the manufacturer you would be using your
printer with current software. Worst case you could hire someone to do
it for you.
I strongly advise that on your next buy (not necessarily MFPs) you also
consider how well that device is supported with Linux. Bonus if the
manufacturer contributes to that support. If enough of us are doing the
same it might eventually open the eyes of manufacturers towards the
benefits of FLOSS, etc.