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Ciaran McCreesh posted on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 09:16:32 +0100 as excerpted: |
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> --as-needed does not prevent breakage. It shoves some breakages under |
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> the carpet so they're sometimes less visible, and sometimes easier to |
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> fix when they happen. However, it does absolutely nothing to address any |
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> of the root causes of the breakage, and it does introduce new breakages |
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> itself. |
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> |
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> Had one tenth of the effort that had been put into running around and |
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> adding in hacks to work around a deliberately broken toolchain instead |
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> been put into fixing libtool and delivering better slotting mechanisms, |
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> none of this would be an issue. |
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> |
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> Or is the policy "we've started running towards the cliff and we've |
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> already debated the merits of jumping off it, so all you're allowed to |
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> discuss now is how we remove the fence"? |
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|
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OK, let's take that last analogy of yours, and expand it to better match |
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rather more of the situation. |
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|
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The current situation is that we have a big mountain (with known unsafe |
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cliffs) in the way of a journey we happen to make somewhat regularly. |
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|
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Now there's a 10 kilometer (or read mile, if you prefer) road over the |
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mountain, with the next shortest alternative being a 110 km road around |
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the mountain. Unfortunately, because the road over the mountain currently |
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transits a particular cliff without tested guardrails, it's gated off |
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(your fence) and marked with large warning signs, unguarded cliff ahead, |
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proceed at your own risk. The 110 km road around the mountain is thus |
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what most folks take now, with only a few deciding they can manage the |
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risk if they go carefully (often after someone else points out the |
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shortcut, and describes the problems so they can be careful at that |
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cliff), and choosing to take that road. |
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|
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That's the current situation. Everyone seems to agree that we have the |
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mountain, the 110 km long route around it that most folks take, and a |
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potentially quite dangerous 10 km shortcut over it, that some few take |
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instead. |
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|
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OK, as it so happens, a proposed guard rail along the dangerous parts has |
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been surveyed, contracted, and is pretty much finished. Pretty much all |
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that remains now is painting the stripes on the new section, and putting |
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up the various curve left, curve right, etc, signage, and getting official |
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sign-offs on the guard rails at an already listed set of particular |
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sections of the cliff that need it. |
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|
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Except... |
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|
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There's a particular set of individuals that despite that almost finished |
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section of road, only awaiting the paint, signage, and official signoffs, |
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continues to argue that's not the /proper/ solution, that the /proper/ |
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solution is to tunnel straight thru a particular section of the mountain, |
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thereby bypassing the cliff entirely. In fact, not only do they claim |
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that the tunnel is the proper solution and would in fact be less dangerous |
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than transiting the cliff even with the guard rails is, they claim that |
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the tunnel would have actually cost less to construct than the section of |
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road transiting the cliff did. |
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|
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So here we are, playing politics at the meeting set to give the final go- |
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ahead to complete the final inspections, the painting and the signage on |
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the road transiting the cliff, a road that's all finished and actually in |
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use by some already, save for that, and we still have this "tunnel bloc" |
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of folks opposing it, continuing to argue that the tunnel is the /proper/ |
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solution. |
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|
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Who knows at this point? The tunnel may in fact have been cheaper, and |
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there's no question that it would have prevented the occasional careless |
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driver still crashing thru the guard rails and going over the cliff. But |
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the point is, we don't have that tunnel, but we do have the already |
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basically finished road, well surveyed and already constructed, with only |
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a bit of painting and certification left, yet the "tunnel bloc" is still |
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opposing the road, arguing that the gate and warnings be maintained as |
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they are, until that tunnel is properly finished, even at the cost of all |
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those travelers having to take the 110 km long way around until that |
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tunnel is completed and opened at some unpredictable time in the future, |
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possibly a decade or more away. |
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|
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So yes, we ARE arguing that the final preparations be made and that the |
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gate currently barring the way to that cliff come down. The fact of the |
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matter is that yes, there is a cliff, but there's also a well constructed |
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road with proper guard rails transiting that cliff, and pending the paint, |
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signage, and final signoffs, it's ready to open and there's no reason |
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other than the political opposition of the "tunnel bloc" not to make those |
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last preparations, and then remove that gate and the warnings currently |
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barring the way. |
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|
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-- |
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Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. |
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"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- |
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and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman |