Once upon a time, Donnie Barnes said that he needed quick installation,
but couldn't assume particular uids, and couldn't rely on the system
assembler or linker being available.
I added the necessary linking tools to qmail. I described to him how a
precompiled package would work, and asked if that settled his concerns.
``Having to get permission on every set of binaries that we compile is
*not* an option,'' he said. ``The issue for *me* is to a) be able to
build my own binaries without getting permission from *you* before I
distribute them and b) be able to allow folks to also do that if they
want to redistribute Red Hat.''
He explained that he needed to be able to compile binaries for
different architectures and with different optimizers.
I explained my concerns about cross-platform compatibility. ``Do you
think that you're capable of producing packages meeting these
fundamental quality guarantees?'' I asked. He said yes.
I put together a public statement granting everyone permission to create
precompiled var-qmail packages, subject to compatibility requirements.
Russell Nelson writes:
> How's about I ask Redhat about distributing a var-qmail?
I already did. That was in June 1998.
In response, Donnie Barnes demanded that he be given control over the
qmail source code. ``I know the point of your licensing is to protect
against forks, but you're being paranoid,'' he said.
In fact, forks are traditional UNIX vendor behavior. I described how
Debian had screwed up cross-platform compatibility by changing the qmail
file locations. He dismissed my concerns, and said that he needed to
change the paths too.
I tried some different explanations of why cross-platform compatibility
was so important. Finally I asked him why he felt compelled to break
cross-platform compatibility.
``I didn't say I did want to,'' he said. ``I may not. I just want the
right to do that and other things you seem to find offensive. Of course,
you're just about the only one who finds those things offensive, but I
guess it's *possible* that you are right and everyone else is wrong.
Sure, it's possible.''
Every sysadmin I know is disgusted at the frivolous incompatibilities
introduced by UNIX vendors. Donnie Barnes simply doesn't care. _He_
doesn't benefit from portability. _He_ won't suffer when he toys with
the qmail interface. But those of us who deal with multiple systems will
be faced with a support nightmare---forever.
I tried to work with Donnie Barnes. I put a lot of effort into making
qmail distributable in binary form. But he isn't willing to guarantee
cross-platform compatibility. It saddens me that he hasn't been honestly
telling his users the nature of our disagreement.
---Dan
