[SDBUG] Fwd: 3.4 CDs

[Ron Rosson]

Just a heads up for the people who use openbsd but do not read the misc@ 
mailing list.  

-Ron

P.S. I am doing this so it is in our archives and also for a big heads up for 
anyone who relies heavliy on packages from the CD when installing

----------  Forwarded Message  ----------

Subject: 3.4 CDs
Date: Thu September 11 2003 08:38 pm
From: Theo de Raadt <deraadt at cvs.openbsd.org>
To: misc at cvs.openbsd.org

It looks like the 3.4 CDs will ship with a set of packages on that
fail to have correct dependencies.

This is because the ports people are responsible for supplying that
list for me to put on packages.  A user should be able to do

	pkg_add *

from the CD directory, and have it work correctly.  All packages
should install, all dependencies should work, it should all be
perfectly clean and beautiful.

However, normally getting this list of packages (different for each
architecture, you should note) from the ports people is a total pain
in the ass.  One person (Peter) normally works very hard to make this
list, and then the other ports people completely sit around doing
nothing (thumbs up asses, I suspect) and eventually a bunch of
non-ports people have to test these lists and then find out that there
are errors in the lists, and then we must work with Peter to get it
fixed.

This has been going on for release after release.

Peter normally also works for WEEKS to find license errors in the
ports tree, so that we do not accidentally put a badly licenced file
on the CD.  Largely, noone else helps.

This is because the ports people do not CARE whether our CDs contain
good stuff.

I want you all to think carefully next time you install packages.  The
same people who are making these packages, largely do not care that
our CDs contain the right packages.  They do not CARE that the CD
experience is good for users.  How can you trust the packages are
correct?

This has been going on for release after release.

There is only one ports developer who has my respect for his work in
the ports tree, and it is Peter Valchev.

The rest of those people are irresponsible fiddlers, making "really
important" changes in the ports infrastructure for the active part of
the development cycle, and then utterly fucking the dog when it
finally comes time ship, thereby causing stress for us who are trying
to make high quality CDs.

This time, however, I've had enough.  I must apologize to the users
for not accepting the stress being thrown my way, and I am saying
enough is enough, and 3.4 will ship the packages listed in the files
that Peter has given us.  Even if they contain errors.  And we know
that at least one of them has errors.  But there is no more time, and
for those of us at "Release Central", there is a life to live.

As to the ports developers, it is time they wake up to the fact that
releases are WHAT MOST OF OUR USERS USE, and adjust their methods to
make RELEASES HIGH QUALITY.

And they will wake up to this starting November 1 when the users start
complaining.

-------------------------------------------------------

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ron Rosson                                    ... and a UNIX user said ...
The InSaNe One                                        rm -rf *
insane at oneinsane.net                        and all was /dev/null and *void()
------------------------------------------------------------------------------