I am using a GNU/Linux system built from scratch (LFS style), but rpm packaged. I built it after my fanatic rule that closed source should NEVER be packaged as part of the system. So, the single way I allow myself to use a new software is to grab it's sources, hack them where needed to fit nicely in the (almost) LSB compliant filesystem and build a binary rpm. All is kewl.
That is cool. Have you considered using Debian GNU/Linux, btw? it meets your demand for Freedom and it's easier then maintaining what amounts to your own distro. Well, sometime it is :-)
That bugged me: as a civilized member of the fs/oss comunity, like it says on mysql.com, I am "interested in helping us (mysql) test our (their) new code". But in order to do that I am forced to use an closed source program and install it on my handcrafted system as root, to execute some malicious code that some pissed-off employee blackmailed by <cough>micro$oft</cough> inserted into their binaries, and the code will wipe off all of my non vfat partitions (all of them) ?????? . Am I paranoid or what ? :)
Remember, being paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you :-)
The issue has been discussed on so many forums in the past (including lkml as Linus also uses BitKeeper) to a point where I don't think there is nothing much more to be said, at least not without starting a nasty flame war. Let's try to avoid that :-)
I guess the story can be summed as follows: if you value your freedom more then you value functionality, don't use BitKeeper. If you prefer functionality to freedom, BitKeeper is supposed to have some nice functionality for distributed development not available elsewhere - note that I'm just repeating what I heared here, I have never used BitKeeper, so I simply don't know.
>
> PS. I'll just wait for mysql-4.1 to turn beta, for now I'm using multiple sql
> queries instead of breaking my principles :)
You don't have to. One positive thing you can do is use (and contribute to the development of) BitBucket, a Free (as in GPLed) BitKeeper exporter and one day maybe also a BitKeeper replacement. See this KernelTrap article for the gory details, for example:
http://kerneltrap.org/node.php?id=600
It might be good enough to pull that MySql tree without using "freedom substracted
software", as RMS calls it. Please tell us the results if you succeed doing so.
<Shameless_plug>
If you value your freedom and the freedom of others as you seem to do, please consider joining HaMakor - http://www.hamakor.org.il, an israeli society for Free Software & Open Source code (RS)
</Shamless_plug>
Cheers, Gilad.
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