7 ms·

It sounds like the focus on "the Debian way" is the cause for the symptom cataloged by the original article. The Homebrew maintainers are also notoriously picky

by cglong 6y ago

It sounds like the focus on "the Debian way" is the cause for the symptom cataloged by the original article. The Homebrew maintainers are also notoriously picky (and for good reason), but I think it's the open nature of GitHub that has helped it grow so well. I wonder if opening the Debian gates a bit (at least superficially) would help encourage a healthier package ecosystem.

qbasic_forever 6y ago
Like most things in software, it's ultimately just people and collaboration problems. I should be careful not to paint Debian in too bad of a light because ultimately it's what the people involved make it--good or bad. It's just that historically Debian enthusiasts have gravitated towards a lot of bad, old gatekeeping mindsets that have really made it difficult for the broader Linux community to grow. For example I think back to all the drama with the early days of Ubuntu and how many in the Debian community were vehemently against the idea that someone make a distro that's easier for people to use.
- rixed 6y ago
  > For example I think back to all the drama with the early days of Ubuntu and how many in the Debian community were vehemently against the idea that someone make a distro that's easier for people to use. That is disingenuous. As much as I am annoyed by Debian gatekeeping, I am also gratefull that there still exist one Linux distribution that's serious about their users rights, aka software freedom, and that is able to properly discern, for instance, that Ubuntu was not going to be easier for newbies to install on their computers than it was going to be easier for Ubuntu to force, say, amazon crapware on newbies computers. I hate Debian gatekeeping yet one have to admit that's the last line of defense against appstores everywhere and the last living example of what user empowerment can be.
  - hjek 6y ago
    > the last line of defense against appstores everywhere Package management on Debian has started to look much like an app store (in a good way) with Gnome Software[0], just without all the non-free stuff. [0]: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Software https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Software

by cglong 6y ago

qbasic_forever 6y ago

Like most things in software, it's ultimately just people and collaboration problems. I should be careful not to paint Debian in too bad of a light because ultimately it's what the people involved make it--good or bad. It's just that historically Debian enthusiasts have gravitated towards a lot of bad, old gatekeeping mindsets that have really made it difficult for the broader Linux community to grow. For example I think back to all the drama with the early days of Ubuntu and how many in the Debian community were vehemently against the idea that someone make a distro that's easier for people to use.

rixed 6y ago
> For example I think back to all the drama with the early days of Ubuntu and how many in the Debian community were vehemently against the idea that someone make a distro that's easier for people to use. That is disingenuous. As much as I am annoyed by Debian gatekeeping, I am also gratefull that there still exist one Linux distribution that's serious about their users rights, aka software freedom, and that is able to properly discern, for instance, that Ubuntu was not going to be easier for newbies to install on their computers than it was going to be easier for Ubuntu to force, say, amazon crapware on newbies computers. I hate Debian gatekeeping yet one have to admit that's the last line of defense against appstores everywhere and the last living example of what user empowerment can be.
- hjek 6y ago
  > the last line of defense against appstores everywhere Package management on Debian has started to look much like an app store (in a good way) with Gnome Software[0], just without all the non-free stuff. [0]: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Software https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Software