john lewis wrote:
> hi Stephen
>
> Debian has rules and policies for very good reasons related to the
> way the "Debian System" works. Packages are not provided for just one
> architecture but for many and some of those other architectures may
> need the 'compression' policy you are complaining about.
>
> Other distros may not care about supporting nearly a dozen
> architectures but Debian does and tries to ensure that all packages
> will run on all of them. In the past releasing a new Debian version
> has been held up because something won't compile on a relatively
> obscure architecture even though it is OK on all the others.
>
> It is in matters like this that Debian is different.
>
> It is irrelevant that Ubuntu may be getting users faster than Debian,
> it is not Debian and imho is closer to a fork than a clone as it is
> not possible to 'mix & match' packages any more than you can safely
> mix & match rpms from different distros. (this may have changed since
> I last used an rpm based system, ie RH 5.1)
>
> I am only a 'user' of Debian but I am pretty sure Debian are not going
> to ditch/modify long held rules/policies just for the sake of one
> application however good that app may be.
>
> May I suggest that you have a look at Martin Krafft's book "The
> Debian System - Concepts and Techniques" which has a two long sections
> on packaging apps for Debian (Chaps 5 & 9)
>
> This will be my last contribution to this thread, I only replied
> because you directed your last email at me.
>
>
I am fairly agnostic where OSs are concerned and will run anything that
gets the job done and makes my life easier.
I haven't used pure Debian for a while, but I am glad Debian is there,
doing what it does and sticking to its guns. The notion of a world
governed solely by market forces troubles me deeply - I want music that
never makes the chart, art that offends and free software that cares
about odd architectures and quality, and not about what Microsoft say.
The notion of Debian bending the rules for every software developer
wanting to include their software in the distro certainly is an
intriguing one!
Sean
