[gentoo-dev] Re: Warn users not to do separate /usr partition without proper initramfs in the handbook?

[Duncan]

Rich Freeman posted on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 08:34:09 -0400 as excerpted:

> Considering that we still haven't finished doing all of this for OpenRC
> yet, I wouldn't worry about the changes hitting you anytime soon.  I'd
> consider a lessons-learned from OpenRC that we shouldn't stabilize
> packages until AFTER the docs are updated.  Otherwise it can tend to
> never happen.

As a follower and user of baselayout2/openrc from way back when it was 
still baselayout-1.13 (who BTW did my own share of bug tracing and 
filing, sometimes with suggested patches or partial-patches, along the 
way), and a CC on both the main and docs stabilization bugs, that 
actually rather mystified me.

Originally, all the documentation was supposed to be a blocker for the 
openrc/baselayout2 stabilization bug, and that made sense.

But then the docs folks said the policy was only to document stable, and 
that they weren't going to document openrc until it was going stable.  
Which didn't seem to make sense as everybody knew it was a big job, too 
big to happen in a final push, without "mistakes being made".  Plus, by 
the time the final push came, for a change that big, there would be all 
sorts of other bugs blocking on openrc going stable, so there'd be no 
real way to do it properly, particularly with docs as understaffed as it 
is.

I never did see how it was going to work, but shutup, because I was "just 
a user", and I couldn't see the devs being /that/ stupid, to stabilize 
without in-place docs or to rush them at the last minute, when so many 
users would be depending on the docs and the reputation Gentoo /used/ to 
have for being a Linux bright-spot, in terms of documentation, to the 
point that users from other distros used to seek out Gentoo docs, and I 
know that was one of the reason /I/ found Gentoo, particularly since 
Gentoo and its users were so early out the gate in the xfree86/xorg 
switchup.

But then I saw it happen, and there's STILL openrc docs-related bugs 
open. I guess that really brought home to me how far Gentoo has fallen 
from its once exalted status, resting on its laurels... until they've all 
wilted and been thrown out and there's no more to rest on.

That's the real bright spot (aside from his hardened activities which 
only have a relatively indirect affect on anything I follow closely) I 
see to swift's return as well, as he has already started tackling some of 
the related docs bugs.  Nothing against the folks, nightmorph in 
particular, that have been holding down the fort -- I've been on projects 
when it seemed to be only me at times myself and it NOT easy -- but being 
the only real active member IS hard, and certainly DOES lead to burnout 
after awhile, and nightmorph has been exhibiting signs of burnout for two 
years or more (IIRC council even debated what might be done to help at 
one point, but without real volunteers, there's not a lot that they could 
do, except back off a bit on the pressure nightmorph was under, to the 
extent they could help there).  So swift must certainly be a welcome 
relief for nightmorph, and for the rest of us, even in just the couple 
days he has been back, there's some docs changes, etc. =:^)

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman