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I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

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RU55EL
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#46 Post by RU55EL »

[edit 12/13/16 10:00AM]
My original post was removed in order to drop the issue. But, because Mor replied, and out of repect for him, I restored the post.
[/edit]
mor wrote:[...]The way I see these attempts to change how Debian works, is like seeing someone trying to change -say- a tractor into a commuting vehicle.
Let's imagine Debian as a tractor, happily spending its days working the fields with plows and harvesters, then someone comes along, sees it and likes it because it is after all a good machine, that someone then starts using it even to go to his office downtown, but commuting is not as smooth. So he thinks that having different tires and maybe a bigger cabin with backseats for the kids would make it a much better and more practical ride, along with a few modifications to the aerodynamics and maybe different gear ratios, and the shocks and a nicer body, maybe a new paintjob.
Yeah, that's much better now, but it no longer is the tractor it was in the beginning.

You can even picture the analogy the other way around with Debian being a sedan and someone trying to use it in the fields, the point is the same: Debian is what it is and people use it exactly because it is Stable and "outdated" (aka very low maintenance) and that's its forte.
If you change it because you want it to be more apt (pun intended) for a different demographic, then by all means do, make you own distro like many have already and be done with it.
Nobody is forcing users to have Debian as their distro. If they like it but want it different then they want something else. And again, there are literally hundreds of choices out there.[...]

This is a very good point!
Last edited by RU55EL on 2016-12-13 18:00, edited 4 times in total.

RoyFokker
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#47 Post by RoyFokker »

No, it is nothing like your commuter car and tractor analogy which only makes sense to Debian zealots. The linux fail distributions all have stupid arbitrary ways of delineating what software is stable and is available to end users. Those with the developer manpower like debian waste massive resources scanning upstream software projects to "backport" bugfixes. In this case one of the upstream developers fought back! And it was funny.

On every other operating system userland developers who are in a better position determine what is stable and/or users have the freedom choose which linux fail distributions deprive them of.

Another funny incident a Debian developer whining because an upstream software project added a line of code just to insult him:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=477454

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mor
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#48 Post by mor »

I imagine you were referring to something RU55EL might have said in the post that I see was edited after you posted yours, however the tractor analogy seemed familiar enough to make me read back a few posts and remember I wrote it.

Regardless, and since I'm here, I would like to comment on what you said.

Of course in a way the concept of stability in Debian makes sense to "its zealots" because Debian is geared towards a particular range of uses. Those who fit within the spectrum are more or less fine with the way it is, others are always left wanting it to be different.

The point of the analogy was exactly that of helping even non-zealots of stability, make sense of the concept of stability by way of using a different set of tools to explain the absurdity of the complaint of Debian being obsolete.
Talking about tractors and sedans is in fact incidental and you can replace those with other tools that belong to similar categories but are ultimately designed to be used in fundamentally different scenarios, such as, for example, toasters and ovens or TVs and projectors or band saws and table saws or, to get back to vehicles, sport bikes and dirt bikes.

If you can grasp the notion that complaining about -say- the Ducati Panigale not being good enough in mud is idiotic, you should also understand how complaining about Debian being a Stable (aka unchanging, unsurprising) system is a misguided endeavor because just as sport bikes are designed to go fast on road and not at all on mud, Debian is designed to be stable, unchanging, predictable, low maintenance, no fuss.
Nobody is preventing anybody from wanting to use Debian for any type of use that doesn't necessarily fit the bill, just as nobody is preventing anyone from trying to do something like this on their sport/road bike, but complaining about Debian being obsolete is exactly like wanting Ducati to change the Panigale so it can jump over banks and cliffs and handle mud, because that's what you want in a bike.

Bye and take care. ;)

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Head_on_a_Stick
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#49 Post by Head_on_a_Stick »

deadbang

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HuangLao
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#50 Post by HuangLao »

Image

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GarryRicketson
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#51 Post by GarryRicketson »

I second that:

ImageJust"click"YES if you agree.

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mor
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Re: I would like Debian to stop shipping XScreenSaver

#52 Post by mor »

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:scnr...

:mrgreen:
When I was writing my post I had a hunch that the Panigale would strike a chord with you.

A custom, however. ;)

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