On 2009-08-04 18:28:17 +0100, Andrew Sayers wrote: > You make a good point about breakage when packages are downgraded. But > it seems a little disingenuous for us to bend over backwards to make > unsupported upgrades possible (adding a "software sources" menu item, > putting PPAs in Launchpad, creating /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ and so on), > then for us to walk away when those upgrades make systems unusable.
There are certainly use-cases where this is usefull and people using it know what they are doing. Disable such options won't make the problems go away. Removing the option to add software sources through a GUI will only lead to instructions how to add them by adding/editing files in /etc/apt/. If you remove that too, you will find instructions to download the deb and "dpkg -i" it instead. In all cases users will follow them without thinking because the instructions promised them a new version or programm with more bling as they currently have. Indepenent of how hard you make it to break an installation, there will be someone who managed to break it nonetheless and expects from you to unbreak it. And at the same time you will annoy experienced users who know what they are doing. > I also take your point that pain is an important way of communicating > danger to users. But making a system unusable seems like pushing a man > off a cliff to warn him about the dangers of falling. I see it more like using an old, rotten bridge with a big warning "Use at your own risk." You might be lucky and can use it to get to the other side and back again without problems, your might get to the other side and the bridge breaks after you or if you're unlucky, you might not even reach the other side. But your shouldn't complain afterwards if you hurt yourself trying to reach the other side. I'm pretty sure people will be carefull when they should use these (even without a big warning): http://www.scottishmunros.co.uk/assets/galleries/photos/_resampled/Resize500500-7018-Rotten-Bridge-to-Maol-Chean-Dearg-2.jpg http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1113598721040505749FqtOqH In this regard people seem to apply some common sense and not use this bridge if it looks unsafe to them but if it comes to software they believe you everything you tell them. Michael -- Ubuntu-devel-discuss mailing list Ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel-discuss
