Re: [gnu.misc.discuss,gnu.emacs.gnus] Free software: Packagers vs Developers
Le 1999-07-02, Per Abrahamsen écrivait :
> I have suggested that people voluntarily stop forking projects, unless
There exists a nuance between packaging a product and forking it.
The vast majority of Debian maintainers do not make a single change
to the upstream sources, apart from adding the debian/ source subdirectory,
and possibly fixing some path names so the package integrates smoothly
in users' file systems.
> Improve the code and merge it back to the original, _instead_ of
> distributing your modified version (a contribution).
As I already mentioned, nothing forces you to allow people to
distribute modified versions of your code, if this does not fit
your idea of free software. Other developers, on the other hand,
use licenses that allow distribution of modified versions, and
I see nothing wrong when a packager exercises a right he was granted
by the author of a piece of code.
> I believe distributions are necessary, _and_ that there are inherent
> problems with them, _and_ that it is possible to solve or soften some
> of these problems.
Then please exhibit a concrete solution.
> I work on < 10k lines of code project, whose potential users must both
> use Emacs and LaTeX. The problems I face doesn't bear much
> resemblence to the problems Linus faces.
A distribution is made up of packages of various sizes, large and
small. A development model that is suitable only for tiny pieces
of code may not be suitable for much larger packages, which often
are not handled by a single developer.
Thomas.
--
Thomas.Quinot@Cuivre.FR.EU.ORG <URL:http://web.fdn.fr/~tquinot/>
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