Aw: Re: qiime REMOVED from testing
Hello,
The problem with the qiime removal imho is less the extra work that you ask
for, but the message sent to our users of testing that they cannot rely on
us - I know it says "testing", but this is exactly what they should be
allowed to do reliably.
Researchers using qiime use the latest version since the scientific field
(identify the relative abundance of microbiota) develops so quickly. The
individuals who decided for qiime on Debian (not the upstream-provided
binary distribution) find testing a natural environment. They are on the
latest scientifically and run on the latest technically. This goes
together.
Now, when you retract packages for no scientific reason or for a technical
reason that would affect them, then they will look to Debian with big
eyes asking "why did you do this to us?". This harms Debian considerably.
Debian's official response typically is that those individuals should not
be using Debian testing in the first place. Sadly, those affected will
not be using any Debian but then prefer one of our downstream distros.
And they will spread the message.
I know, the problem is old. And you may not have any immediate answer that
would make me happy. Just kindly think about it anyway.
Kind regards,
Steffen
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