On Wednesday 20 December 2000 22:53, you wrote:
> On Wednesday 20 December 2000 22:04, Guillaume Cottenceau wrote:
> > We can't do everything.
>
> This is FAR from everything...
>
> > We do use MandrakeUpdate for security updates. It already costs resources
> > because changing something means:
> >
> > - doing it for a number of old distribs (7.2, 7.1, 7.0, 6.1)
> > - backporting the specfiles that have changed with newer versions of RPM
> > - troubleshooting the dependency problems, thus making other packages
> >
> > Think two minutes: what would you like to see in the updates? obviously,
> > for example kde-2, gnome-1.2, xmms-1.2.4, rpm-4, XFree-4, for older
> > distribs such as 7.0. This is an *enormous* amount of work, and, come on,
> > we release everything on the web very conveniently, so why not upgrading
> > or installing the 7.2..
>
> It's 7.2 I'm talking about!!! So what you're saying is that if I want to
> upgrade my system to the latest stable releases of products, and I want to
> use my distribtion-companies own rpm I have to use a unstable build of the
> whole dis (cooker, and yes, it is unstable!). This is bullshit, think
> about it.
In my opinion, they have thought about it. Now it's time for YOU to think
about it. A Mandrake Linux release is a tested, integrated release. You're
making the silly assumption that each package is totally independent, and
this is incorrect (bullshit using your terminology). The new glibc is also a
stable release, but they can't release it for 7.2 without upgrading the rest
of the packages. XFree also doesn't stand alone - look at all the other
packages that are dependent on X!
What Mandrake is saying is that they (and us) are testing a new collection of
packages, and if all tests ok, we can expect 4.0.2 to be in the NEXT release.
All the great dependency failures we report regularly, and bugs in packaging
are all fixed before the final release goes out. At what point do you
consider 4.0.2 stable? It's JUST hit Cooker! Just because the developer
considers it stable doesn't mean it is. There may be interactions with other
packages that would prevent it working properly in certain environments.
That's what testing is all about. In many cases, you can't upgrade one
package without also updating a bunch of others, even though it appears to be
a single package (rpm is a good, simple example - I suspect at least a dozen
packages rely on it or other packages that in turn rely on rpm).
Have I seen code that is claimed to be bug-free and considerably better and
more stable than production code, yet caused systems to not boot? Yup, and
not only Linux software gets credit for this.
In no way is Mandrake preventing you from upgrading individual packages based
on your individual needs. Mandrake sold (or gave) you a copy of 7.2 that
includes specific versions of packages. You're then responsible for your own
testing and integration. They are making available, at no charge, security
fixes for those packages in many of there current (and not so current)
releases.
--
Ed Wilts, Mounds View, MN, USA
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
