It is with some sadness I write this message to this group of talented people that I have come to think of as almost an extended family.
As release time for PostgreSQL 8.0 comes near, I find myself unable to spend as much time on RPMs as I once did; frankly, I find myself not quite as interested in doing so as I once did. The situation in which I jumped feet first back in July of 1999 was one where RPMs for Red Hat releases came out infrequently, and where upgrading RPMs was fraught with peril. Times have changed: Red Hat now employs Tom Lane full-time to work on PostgreSQL; Red Hat RPM releases, handled by Tom, are both frequent and well-managed; another community maintainer, Devrim Gunduz, has stepped up to the plate and has managed the release of several RPMs at this point. These are good changes. Upgrading RPMs of PostgreSQL is still fraught with peril, however. I had attempted to make this easier at one point, but it turned into a maintenance nightmare, causing me to remove the half-attempt. I had a plan to help in this by allowing multiple versions of PostgreSQL to coexist (which I would still like to see happen, although I cannot at this time take the time to do it myself), but found myself unable to complete the probably small amount of work necessary to make it happen. This project deserves some fresh interest in this area; thus, I am stepping down as active RPM maintainer. I do not intend to unsubscribe from this list, however, and I intend to make myself available to answer Devrim and Tom (or anyone else!) on any questions they may have regarding the RPM packaging. I may critique from time-to-time the packaging, if Devrim doesn't mind, but I just simply cannot invest as much of my dwindling free time any more. My apologies for not making this decision earlier in the 8.0 beta cycle. This is a great group; in my opinion it is THE best open source development communities in existence anywhere. I have been honored to have served in this capacity, and look forward to PostgreSQL's continuing improvement due to the marvelous efforts of this active, vibrant, community. -- Lamar Owen Director of Information Technology Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute 1 PARI Drive Rosman, NC 28772 (828)862-5554 www.pari.edu ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 7: don't forget to increase your free space map settings
