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On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 8:17 AM, pk <peterk2@××××××××.se> wrote: |
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> On 2013-08-19 04:55, Canek Peláez Valdés wrote: |
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> |
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>> Probably for exactly the same reason you or anyone else uses Gentoo; |
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>> USE flags, portage, you can customize at your hearts content... |
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> |
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> USE flags, in my mind, are there for minimising dependencies so that I |
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> don't need to install all the crap that binary distros install. That is |
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> why I use Gentoo, in order to avoid all the crap that things like Gnome |
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> wants to install (for instance, I have -gnome, -dbus, -gconf in my |
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> make.conf in order to avoid a heart attack[1]). Customisation are only |
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> possible if you allow to minimise dependencies; and it's also dependent |
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> on a flexible base system (if you put restrictions on it, say, if /usr |
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> can be separate or not[without an initrd], then flexibility decreases). |
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|
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USE flags are for customizations, and they are available *as long as |
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someone supports them*. |
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|
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I don't use KDE (I really don't like it); I don't have nothing KDE |
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related (not even Qt) in any of my systems. AFAIK, that is not |
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possible to do in any distro other than Gentoo. |
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|
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>> I've never used Fedora. I used RedHay back in the day of RedHat 4.2 |
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>> (it was my very first use of Linux in 1996), then moved to Mandrake |
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>> (remember Mandrake?), then Gentoo in 2003. I haven't used any other |
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>> distro since then. |
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> |
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> This is rather pointless, but I started using a Linux based OS (don't |
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> remember the name, but it came on 9 floppy disks with kernel 0.93) on my |
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> Amiga 4000 in the early nineties. I've used Redhat, Mandrake, Debian, |
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> Slackware and others, landing with LFS in 2000 which I was happy with |
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> but it was too much work so I settled with Gentoo in the early 2000 |
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> which is the best compromise I have found. Haven't used any other |
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> "distro" since then either... |
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> |
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>> I want Gentoo to keep being the best possible Linux (I *really* don't |
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>> care if it works in *BSD, Solaris, or Windows). Believe it or not, I'm |
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> |
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> I want Gentoo to be the best *OS* for me. |
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|
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This is where you are confused, Peter. Nobody (except you) cares about |
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your particular needs, in the same way that nobody (except me) cares |
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about mine. The developers (Gentoo devs, GNOME devs, systemd devs, |
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OpenRC devs, kernel devs) don't care (and don't have to) about |
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particular cases: they have to care about *the general cases*. Some of |
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them care about some cases, others care about others. As long as a |
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case has someone(s) to support it, that case will be supported. |
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|
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So, if you want Gentoo to be the best *OS* for *you*, don't |
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necessarily expect that anybody will do the work for you. |
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|
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> To me that is achieved by |
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> having the widest possible selection of applications and following |
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> standards as closely as possible (POSIX, FHS). I don't really care if |
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> it's Linux or not but I'm most comfortable in a UNIX like environment. |
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> That said, I think what you are advocating is going in a opposite |
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> direction to what I want... to me the changes you seek are making Gentoo |
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> going from best to bad; reducing choice/flexibility. |
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|
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Why? eudev is there, you can use it. OpenRC is there, and if you agree |
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with its maintainer (who wants to stop supporting separated /usr |
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without an initramfs), you can keep using it. |
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|
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And of course, you can freeze all your machines and never upgrade |
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again; what choices are you being denied? What is being discussed is |
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that nobody is going to do work for you, so a bad technical |
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combination (separated /usr without an initramfs) works. |
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|
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>> pretty sure that for Gentoo to keep being the best possible Linux, it |
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>> has to use systemd. |
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> |
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> I fully believe you think that systemd is the best choice for init |
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> systems out there, but then again you are a Gnome user (as I understand |
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> it) and to me that is quite the opposite from what I want (I abhor the |
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> whole Gnome eco system and Lennart is an old Gnome dev so I can see |
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> where the influences comes from). I happen to think that many small |
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> tools with clearly defined interfaces (i.e. a standard) works so much |
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> better and are so much more flexible than "... the one system to rule |
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> them all...". |
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|
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And who is stopping you from using your "many small tools with clearly |
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defined interfaces"? The code is there; if you are willing and able, |
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you can tune everything as you want. |
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|
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Just don't expect someone will cater to your specific needs. |
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|
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>> You don't have to agree with that, of course. But please understand |
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>> that I only support systemd in Gentoo, because I love Gentoo. |
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> |
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> I understand that. The thing is, as I see it, you "support" (advocate |
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> would perhaps be a better choice of words) systemd and _only_ systemd, |
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> thereby "forcing it down our throats". |
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|
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First, I maintained an overlay for having only systemd (no OpenRC) for |
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several months, so I would say support. |
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|
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Second, when I have said that I want to force *anyone* to use systemd? |
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Citation please. |
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|
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I want Gentoo to fully support systemd (and we are almost there). I |
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don't want to force no one to use it; where did you get that from? |
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|
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>> And, putting aside systemd and getting back on topic to the council's |
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>> decision of (eventually) not supporting separated /usr without an |
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>> initramfs; have you ever stopped to consider that, perhaps, that's the |
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>> best *technical* decision? (*gasp*) |
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> |
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> I fail to see why I should waste time and resources by having a |
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> duplicate set of tools (one in the initramfs and one in /). How is that |
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> a *technical* solution? I would call it bandaid. There is no difference |
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> from having static binaries in / (it's just a matter of locality). So, |
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> yes, I have thought about it and I don't consider it the best *decision* |
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> (*gasp*). |
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|
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Well, discuss it with the OpenRC maintainer, which is the one pushing |
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the option. *Nobody* that actually has worked in the problem (the |
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*GENERAL* problem, not "my pc works like that") wants to support |
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separated /usr without initramfs. Nobody. |
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|
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>> When you have almost all distributions converging on that, and even |
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> |
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> You said "... customize at your hearts content...". To me that assumes |
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> flexibility. If you take away choice, you take away flexibility. To me |
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> that's a contradiction. That "almost all distributions" are converging |
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> is a non-argument; it says nothing about "technical" excellence |
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> (whatever that means). It may merely mean that the devs in said distros |
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> have given up and just "eat" whatever crap they're served because of |
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> lack of manpower or whatever. |
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I think there is a lot of confusion about what it means that "Gentoo |
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is about choice". I was against that notion for a long time, but I |
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turned around and now fully embrace it, with a caveat. Allow me to |
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state the Gentoo Is About Choice Axiom: |
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"Gentoo is about choice, AS LONG AS SOMEONE IS WILLING AND ABLE TO |
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SUPPORT THAT CHOICE". |
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|
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People are willing and able to support systemd in Gentoo, so that |
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choice is available. People are willing and able to support GNOME in |
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Gentoo, so that choice is available. People are willing and able to |
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support OpenRC in Gentoo, so that choice is available. |
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|
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*Nobody* is willing *AND ABLE* to support separated /usr without an |
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initramfs. The general problem, please, not some anecdotal story about |
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how you have never had problems with it. Therefore, that choice is not |
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available, unless you find someone WILLING AND ABLE to support it. |
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|
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Good luck with that. |
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> [1] Yes, I hate Gnome with a passion ever since using it on those |
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> distros mentioned above. |
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It is clear to me that much of your reasoning is clouded by that kind |
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of hate. I don't hate OpenRC; it is a very good incremental step from |
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SysV, and I have no problem with it being the default init for Gentoo. |
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|
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Regards. |
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-- |
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Canek Peláez Valdés |
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Posgrado en Ciencia e Ingeniería de la Computación |
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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |