Hello, On Fri, Aug 19, 2022 at 05:06:38PM -0400, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote: > On 8/19/2022 4:44 PM, piorunz wrote: > > On 19/08/2022 18:57, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote: > > > I have noticed that some Debian bugs are ignored for a long time, > > > sometimes even when the person who submitted the bug offered a patch. The > > > Debian developers/maintainers sometimes don't even reply and therefore > > > never explain why the proposed patch cannot be applied. Why is that the > > > case with Debian developers/maintainers? > > > > Hi Chuck, > > > > Maybe because developers/maintainers are not paid by the hour, but mere > > volunteers, don't you think? > > So that means "free" software written and maintained by volunteers will never > be as > stable and secure as software that is written by people who are paid by the > hour.
This is an assertion of your own that does not automatically follow from what piorunz wrote. > That is, Debian software can *never* be as stable and secure as > software that is written and maintained by people who are paid by > the hour. This is also an assertion of your own that does not automatically follow from what piorunz wrote. > you are saying if a Debian user experiences a bug in Debian > software, Debian developers/maintainers do not have to fix it. That is a direct consequence of the meaning of the term "volunteer"; you may as well have said, "water is wet". Volunteers cannot be forced to do work, else they are not volunteers. > If Debian developers/maintainers actively refuse to fix some bugs that > inevitably arise > by ignoring them, why would anyone depend on Debian software for anything > important? I would argue that the situation is similar (and often worse) in every other free software project. I would also argue that while you may pay a software vendor to care about your use case, that can also come with different issues. So really, life is not perfect, and we all do what we can to cope with that. Things are not perfect in Debian nor elsewhere both within and outside the free software world. I think I know some of the bugs that you are referring to as I keep on eye on those developments. A gentle ping on the relevant bugs to ask where things are may be appropriate. That's really the strongest thing you can do. Others may be tempted to try to drag more info out of you to determine what the exact history is here and who is right/wrong, but I don't think that will help anyone in these particular cases. Regards, Andy -- https://bitfolk.com/ -- No-nonsense VPS hosting
