On 8/7/24 12:34 AM, Kent Overstreet wrote: > Debian (as well as Fedora) currently have a broken policy of switching > Rust dependencies to system packages - which are frequently out of date, > and cause real breakage. > > As a result, updates that fix multiple critical bugs aren't getting > packaged. > > (Beyond that, Debian is for some reason shipping a truly ancient > bcachefs-tools in stable, for reasons I still cannot fathom, which I've > gotten multiple bug reports over as well).
I can help you fathom the reason. The inherent purpose of Debian is to not provide updates to software, since the general class of "computer code" contains the general risk of "regressions", including "existing config files need to be updated, and that regresses my ability to run a box unattended for 10 years without ssh'ing in even once". It is therefore the stated purpose of Debian that: - if you managed to get a working installation you do not need new versions of the software to maintain a holding pattern in your ability to get the same work done today that you were able to get done yesterday -- whereas upgrading to new features can break that holding pattern. - if you did NOT manage to get a working installation, you do not need that new stuff, and should stop attempting to have an "off-topic conversation that misses the purpose of Debian" If you want updates to software, you upgrade debian, rather than upgrading software. If you want modern software, you either use Debian sid rather than stable (bcachefs-tools 1.9.1 may not be the most recent version but it's very much not "truly ancient") or you do the sensible thing and use a reasonable distro. "Reasonable distro" meaning a distro that, when faced with the choice between: - allow people who installed the distro in 2017 to pretend it is still 2017 and keep using their system the way they did back then - improve the user experience for users choose the latter. In short, it is foolish to criticize Debian for shipping ancient software since the answer is "the purpose of Debian is so that users can use ancient software". ... No comment on their switching rust dependencies to system packages. Possibly the problem can be mitigated though -- is it possible for Rust build systems to declare a minimum required version of dependencies, the way pkg-config for C / C++ can do? -- Eli Schwartz
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