> >> current stable release on a whim, so I think getting Sage into Ubuntu is > >> a > >> much more reachable goal. It also seems that Ubuntu is getting a lot > >> more > >> mindshare in the *desktop* these days (compared to Debian unstable). > > I meant Debian *stable* in the end, not *unstable*
That is certainly true. > Disclaimer: I can only describe from what I saw happening on the LyX and > ATLAS mailing lists. I have never been a Debian packager/developer nor > have I ever applied to be one, so I might be mistaken about several > issues. I am also not a DD (Debian Developer), but I created and got around 5 packages to Debian unstable already. > > Well, Debian supports a lot more architectures and from what I know it is > discouraged to limit the architecture due to non-technical reasons. Sage > is widely used on Linux and x86, x86-64 and to some extend on PPC and > Itanic, but what about the other 9 or so architectures Debian supports? > They provide build infrastructure, but who would care about Sage on > Linux/ARM? If noone is using it, than no bugs will be filled against it I guess. And if it doesn't even build, that's of course another issue. But that usually signals that something is wrong. > The other issue I have seen was that in stable you had to patch bugs, not > add features. Specfically: When LyX 1.4.4 came out the Debian stable > package was still 1.4.2, so instead of upgrading to 1.4.4 wholesale the > maintainer had to pick the patches out that fixed bugs and to apply them. I thought only the vulnerability bugs are fixed in the stable distribution. Well, that of course is an issue. But isn't the same problem in Ubuntu then? > > It actually has the advantage of being both in Debian and > > Ubuntu as it gets to Ubuntu automatically. > > That is certainly true, but I do not believe that William's scenario (2) > will happen anytime soon. I believe that Sage can live just fine with > scenario (1). Debian doesn't allow the scenario (1) (officially), but I thought Ubuntu also doesn't. > And looking at the pace of Sage releases: Who would want to work with the > Sage released 1.5 years ago? Who would maintain such old releases? That > and the (more or less) reliable 6 months release time frame of Ubuntu > could make the (potential) synchronisation of Sage releases a lot more > plannable, because who knows when the next Debian stable will come. I use > to admin some boxes with Debian stable a long time ago and the neverending > wait for Woody (finally released in 2002) made me switch distributions. > Sarge came along nearly 3 years later, so the release frequency of Ubuntu > has been higher than 3 times that of Debian stable. I really thought only the security bugs are fixed in the stable, otherwise the packages are untouched. But I've been only using unstable for last couple of years... Of course it doesn't make sense to maintain old releases, but I think it is not necessary. So please correct me if I am wrong. > And some of the discussion regarding the removal on non-free documentation > out of debian (I believe it was the glibc doc among other things) makes my > head spin. The issue was postponed to get Sarge out of the door, but > still. Alas, I don't want to start a flame war about Linux distributions, > so anybody who feels offended please correct me offlist or put me in your > kill file :) I think the flamewar only happens when people don't know how (or don't want) to discuss. I think it's very good that Debian distinguishes main and non-free, because I am always sure that when I install main, I have all the rights are described in the Debian Free Software Guidelines (DFSG). And the non-free is there for things that I need (like wireless things, some documentation, google earth, ...) -- but it reminds me that those programs are not free and thus I should be aware that if I depend on them too much, I could easily get stuck depending on something that I am not allowed to fix or use freely. I think it's very cleverly invented. The only problem is that because Debian is only developed by volunteers, some things are quite slow, and that's where Ubuntu comes in. Ondrej --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To post to this group, send email to sage-devel@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-devel URLs: http://sage.scipy.org/sage/ and http://modular.math.washington.edu/sage/ -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
