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Qmail is far from flawless. It could be better if patches were allowed, but no, that's forbidden. As much as DJB is a talented programmer, his attitude towards

Qmail is far from flawless. It could be better if patches were allowed, but no, that's forbidden. As much as DJB is a talented programmer, his attitude towards outside contributions comes across as extremely hostile. I can't take any of the DJB projects seriously because they're always in a state of permanent abandonment and maintainers are impossible to find. They serve as art pieces more than practical, useful software. He's certainly from the old school of development where tight control over your software ensures it's not exposed to risk from external developers, and of course he's entitled to do that. The consequence is that severely limits how this software can be used.

kragen 12y ago
qmail has been in the public domain since 2007, and patches have always been allowed. Most of your other statements seem similarly at odds with reality to me, but they’re more statements of your taste than anything else.
tarminian 12y ago
Why should software be in a state of permanent development? "I can't take any of the DJB projects seriously because they're always in a state of permanent abandonment and maintainers are impossible to find. They serve as art pieces more than practical, useful software." There are plenty of "maintainers", just search for the qmail mailing list, if that is impossible then I'm not sure what to say to you, but what you say is bunk.
- astrodust 12y ago
  Software needs to be in a state of permanent development because nothing is static. Operating systems change. Usage patterns change. Seeing Qmail rot on the vine is heart-breaking, but that's exactly what happened. I used to use Qmail exclusively, but over time it got harder and harder to install an up-to-date version of it, requiring more and more "unofficial" patches to get it actually working. After too much of that I gave up and went with Postfix. I don't want "mailing lists", I don't want Bugzilla, I don't want SourceForge. I want people that respond to something like GitHub issues where the interaction is painless and productive.

kragen 12y ago

qmail has been in the public domain since 2007, and patches have always been allowed. Most of your other statements seem similarly at odds with reality to me, but they’re more statements of your taste than anything else.

tarminian 12y ago

Why should software be in a state of permanent development? "I can't take any of the DJB projects seriously because they're always in a state of permanent abandonment and maintainers are impossible to find. They serve as art pieces more than practical, useful software." There are plenty of "maintainers", just search for the qmail mailing list, if that is impossible then I'm not sure what to say to you, but what you say is bunk.

astrodust 12y ago
Software needs to be in a state of permanent development because nothing is static. Operating systems change. Usage patterns change. Seeing Qmail rot on the vine is heart-breaking, but that's exactly what happened. I used to use Qmail exclusively, but over time it got harder and harder to install an up-to-date version of it, requiring more and more "unofficial" patches to get it actually working. After too much of that I gave up and went with Postfix. I don't want "mailing lists", I don't want Bugzilla, I don't want SourceForge. I want people that respond to something like GitHub issues where the interaction is painless and productive.