kernel-source package have serious bugs
Herbert Xu and I have a disagreement about kernel-source packages and
bugs. Rather than opening and closing the bugs indefinitely, I prefer
to bring the issue to debian-devel for resolution. I describe the
issue below.
In the bo distribution, there are 3 kernel-source packages,
kernel-source-2.0.27, kernel-source-2.0.29, and kernel-source-2.0.30.
Due to changes in expr, neither 2.0.27 nor 2.0.29 will currently
compile under bo when certain sound drivers are chosen. 2.0.30 will
compile under bo. I believe that Herbert and I agree on this issue.
kernel-source-2.0.27, 2.0.29, and 2.0.30 are separate packages, each
of which is included in the bo distribution. As long as the packages
continue to exist, it is possible to report bugs against the packages.
Both 27 and 29 still have bugs in the int and hex functions. Until
these packages are fixed or removed from distribution, bugs should
remain open against these packages. There are legitimate reasons for
choosing any one of these 3 source packages, as different bugs are
fixed and introduced in different source distributions. Therefore, it
is reasonable to allow more than one set of kernel source
distributions in bo.
Herbert Xu disagrees with this issue. He claims that 2.0.27 and
2.0.29 are obsolete and all bugs against them should be closed if the
bug is fixed in 2.0.30.
Furthermore, I believe that these bugs against 27 and 29 are critical
bugs. Here are my reasons.
1. Under any Debian release, it should be possible to build a
kernel. Some device drivers are not included in the standard
distribution. Any Debian user should be able to compile these drivers
easily.
2. kernel-source-2.0.30 does have these bugs fixed, both 2.0.27 and
2.0.29 are buggy. Herbert Xu incorrectly closed the bug against
2.0.27. Having a bug fixed in one set of source code does not fix the
bug in all sets of source code. As long as 27 and 29 are distributed,
they should have the bugs fixed. If these two distributions are truly
obsolete, then they should be removed from the distribution. I
believe that they are not obsolete. Different version of the kernel
source have different sets of bugs reported against different drivers.
I believe that 2.0.27 is a well-respected set of source code, though I
admit that I have trouble remembering which source code has which
problems.
3. The bugs in 2.0.27 and 2.0.29 are easy to fix. The fixes have
been reported for over 2 months. If need be, the fixes can be taken
from the 2.0.30 release.
I believe that these arguments make it necessary and simple to fix the
bugs in the 2.0.27 and 2.0.29 kernel-source.
Does anyone else have opinions on these issues?
--
Kevin Dalley
kevin@aimnet.com
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