Comments inline below
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:bacula-devel-
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kern Sibbald
> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 3:10 AM
> To: bacula-devel; bacula-users
> Cc: Shane Coughlan
> Subject: [Bacula-devel] Bacula Status -- change of direction for
> myparticipation in the project
>
> Hello,
>
> Open Source is a fantastic success story, and shows every sign of becoming
> a
> gigantic snow ball over the next few years. Usage of Bacula is increasing
> significantly, which is very pleasing. However, the development side of
> Bacula, with one or two exceptions, I consider a total failure.
>
> Bacula has received quite a number of submissions other than my
> contributions
> over the years. However, in general, these submissions have been made
> without documentation (leaving it to me to document) and the developer
> after
> a short time has for various reasons moved on to other things (change of
> job,
> change of life status, other interests, ...). All this is normal, but
> what I
> find very disappointing is that with only a couple of exceptions that come
> to
> mind there are no permanent Bacula developers other than myself. (Just so
> that there is no confusion or ill feelings, Scott, Dan, and Eric have been
> around for quite a while and have and are making significant contributions
> --
> there are certainly others who don't come to mind immediately, so, please
> accept my appologies -- also, I think the users list is working quite
> well.
> What I am talking about is the lack of highly qualified, committed,
> and "permanent" Bacula developers).
>
I hope I'm not one of the developers that you feel isn't qualified or
committed. I'm not sure what you mean by "permanent".
I answer the questions on the mailing list that are specific to the Windows
version. I usually ignore those that are general Bacula questions, even if
they are running Windows, unless there is some Windows specific aspect.
> My point here, is that today, I am essentially the only developer doing
> documentation, the only developer fixing bugs, the only developer doing
> testing on the different platforms. After 7+ years of doing it 12-14
> hours a
> day for 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, I am more than a bit disappointed
> that
> there isn't more help. The fault may possibly be my own, but what ever
> the
> case may be that is where we are.
>
I have also been fixing bugs.
> As an example of what I am lamenting here is that there is a Win 2003 bug
> open
> since 20 March where restore of encrypted (and compressed if I remember
> right) data fails. Another example is that despite my repeated requests
> over
> something like a six month period, no one (at this moment) has "signed up"
> to
> do Win32, Solaris, or FreeBSD regression testing.
>
As far as this specific bug is concerned, I just realized it is assigned to
me. However I thought there was someone else working on the Encryption
code. Even though this problem is reported on Windows the problem is more
likely to be a generic problem with encryption support.
> My solution to this problem is several fold:
>
> 1. As of release 2.2.0, Win32, Solaris, and FreeBSD will no longer
> be "officially" supported platforms. So that there is no
> misunderstanding, I
> definitely would like to see them supported, but I am no longer going to
> do
> it alone, which means that I will accept patches for them, I will not
> accept
> bug reports that are specific to those platforms, they will be documented
> as "use if it works for you but don't complain if it doesn't", and the
> project will no longer supply binaries for the Director and Storage daemon
> for Win32. Users can build it themselves if they want to use it.
>
I don't understand why you are taking this position in regards to the
Windows version. We've talked a number of times about the support and
documentation issues. I agreed to provide support for any Windows specific
problems which I have been doing. As far as documentation is concerned, you
said you would make the changes if I provided a description of the
differences. In fact, in the last email you seemed quite happy when I
mentioned that there aren't any real configuration differences other than
the device names.
The README file included with the installation documents all the differences
of which I'm aware.
I periodically run the Windows regression tests (which I ported). You've
also asked for help running the regression tests which I agreed to do. But
each time you've indicated it would be at some point in the future but
you've never got back to me that you were ready.
I also offered to do the Windows releases for you and you agreed it would
help. However, whenever you are making a release you've said that you were
taking care of the Windows release.
Currently I'm working on the new Bacula Tray application. This will replace
the built-in tray code. It will eliminate the need to run using the SYSTEM
account. It also allows remote systems to be monitored. Encryption (TLS)
is supported ensuring secure password and data exchange between the monitor
application and the remote servers.
I believe this should eliminate four of the most common Windows issues /
requests:
Ability to run using account other than SYSTEM
Restrict users from stopping the service from the tray application.
Access the monitor application from non-console remote sessions.
Encrypted sessions between the monitor application and the servers
for use over the internet
> 2. I previously suggested creating a formal Bacula Open Source project or
> a
> foundation, but I have totally dropped that idea due to lack of community
> participation.
>
The only requests related to this have been the signed copyright
assignments. If there is something else you expect from us, please let us
know.
> 3. As of today, the gnome-console (renamed bgnome-console) and wx-console
> (renamed bwx-console) are deprecated and no longer supported by me. If
> someone else wants to pick up support of them, I'll be very happy to
> accept
> patches.
>
> 4. I am no longer personally going to maintain the projects list (Feature
> Requests). If someone wants to pick up maintaining it including the
> voting,
> I would be very happy. Obviously I'll continue to work on projects that
> personally interest me.
>
> 5. I will be devoting more of my time to a project that I previously
> mentioned
> that will provide training and support for Bacula engineers and for 3rd
> party
> Bacula Service organizations. The support provided will not be direct
> customer support but certification and level 3 support for professional
> service companies with the goal of promoting Bacula usage and code
> submissions.
>
> The concept here is that I am convinced that commercial organizations want
> to
> use Bacula (many use Solaris, so it is critical for them) but are hindered
> by
> the lack of qualified professional service. By insuring professional
> services for Bacula, I believe that we can compensate for the lack of
> commuity participation in the Bacula development process. This is because
> commerical/governmental/educational organizations will make significant
> contributions to the project when they have professional support.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Kern
>
>
>
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