Warning: I have a vested interest in this conversation - MPE is
paying for the development of VFX Forth for Linux, and I am the
MD of MPE.
> From: john lewis <johnlewis@???>
> On Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:53:57 -0000 (GMT)
> "Vic" <lug@???> wrote:
> > It's all very well digging your heels in and refusing to play with
> > others until they follow your rules - but if you do, they'll go
> > play somewhere else.
>
> so what!
Two major reasons
1) You can only improve something if you listen and understand
the criticisms of people who don't like it.
2) Better products will eat Debian's lunch.
I've heard it said several times that Linux people don't need to
care about about Microsoft - "just leave us alone". The trouble
is that Microsoft *are* concerned. It's rather like ignoring a
lion on the basis that you don't want to eat the lion.
Andy Grove said "Only the paranoid survive".
Microsoft do "Embrace, extend, extinguish".
> I run Debian __because__ it has ethics and rules and is
> pretty serious about developers/maintainers sticking to
> those rules.
Times change, and so do laws. We don't nail people to crosses
any more, and we don't send children down pits any more. The
requirements of desktop users have changed. I'm sure that the
number of Ubuntu users is increasing far faster than that of
"pure" Debian users. Compared to when Debian started, PCs and
huge hard disks are dirt cheap, so compression policies (policy,
not rule) may no longer be appropriate.
Confucius, he say "Rules were made for the guidance of wise men
and the observance of fools".
> Installing vfxforthalpha was done to 'add to the
> numbers' of downloaders but given your attitude to the
> way Debian works it will be removed and I'll not be
> installing the beta or any other vfxforth package. I know
> you won't miss me and don't care.
There's a quantity of businesses looking seriously at how to
work in the Linux arena, and *planning* ways to migrate some or
all of their business to that arena. Managing that change is
essential for survival. The FLOSS arena has a completely
different business model, but there *is* a business model.
Shrieking at our engineers is counter-productive. Telling us
*why* and suggesting *how* to do it better is productive.
Yes, we do care, especially because the vast majority of alpha
problem reports in the last month or so have been Debian
installation issues. It's costing me a fortune! It would
probably have been quicker and cheaper to buy InstallShield.
Stephen
--
Stephen Pelc, stephen@???
MicroProcessor Engineering Ltd - More Real, Less Time
133 Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 5AF, England
tel: +44 (0)23 8063 1441, fax: +44 (0)23 8033 9691
web:
http://www.mpeforth.com - free VFX Forth downloads
