:: Re: [DNG] /usr to merge or not to m…
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Author: Alessandro Selli
Date:  
To: dng
Subject: Re: [DNG] /usr to merge or not to merge... that is the question??

Il 16/11/18 16:46, Clarke Sideroad ha scritto:
> On 2018-11-16 4:11 a.m., Daniel Reurich wrote:
>> Hi Devuan followers, fans and friends,
>>
>> Debian as of the upcoming Buster release looks to be implementing a
>> merged /usr by default.  At this stage there is no plan to make it
>> forced... but you never know what happens when their Technical Committee
>>   suddenly decides it's an issue they need to force a decision on...
>>
>> So... for Devuan, do we want to default to a merged /usr in our coming
>> release of Beowulf or are we going to resist another pointless
>> rearranging of the deck chairs...
>>
>>
> Given the current "definition" of Devuan, I see little choice other
> than following Debian, it is after all the source of most packages
> used in Devuan.
> Merged /usr will creep in 100% over time and one day not to far away
> it will taint sid/ceres to the point that there is no choice anyway.
> The dodging of systemd is already a big enough chunk to gnaw away, it
> makes little sense to make the situation many times worse.



  If Devuan is going to have a brilliant future it is going to
disenfranchise itself from Debian.  Being forever a Debian without
systemd will keep it in the backseat, vulnerable to all the odd
decisions and arguable development directions that Devuan/FD are going
to take.

  I think eventually going our own way will to prove no more a hassle
that will be striving to be just like Debian except for fundamental,
deep elements of that OS.


> Like it or not systemd and its limitations are forcing changes to the
> landscape and merged usr for little other reason, the once possible
> uniting force of LSB is done for.



  Did you miss the fact that Devuan exists just for this reason,
providing people with an alternative to what systemd is forcing down
their throats?  What you wrote is to me a reason to want to persevere
even more strongly in own own direction.


> Systemd's preferred hierarchy _is_ the new LSB.   Live with it or go
> it alone.



  Did you miss the news?  Devuan's VUAs decided time ago to go it alone.


> Ideally Devuan would be the new Debian and calling the shots, but that
> is not happening soon, although at some point Devuan may be the
> required lifeboat for Debian passengers.



  Devuan cannot forever be just a lifeboat.  Let's be a little
ambitious!  Let's strive to have Devan have a life of it's own, not just
being a lesser Debian.


> There is likely a fairly solid Devuan installed base out there, but a
> lot of that is based on close Debian compatibility at least for
> initial install, IMHO we can't lose that or Devuan will quickly follow
> various niche distros into oblivion.



  So long as compatibility is guaranteed with a generic GNU/Linux
distribution, we're not going to cut Devuan out of the market that is
feeding Linux.  What matters is having a distribution that Just Works,
is solid, reliable, secure and suffers not from inconsistencies or odd
design decisions and can be easily tinkered with to be adapted to a
large number of use cases.  Could it be proven that Devuan was better
than Debian in this regard, it could well surpass it in number of
installations.

  GNU/Linux started as an operating clone of the generic Unix SysV, do
you recall?  Do you remember what happened next?


--
Alessandro Selli <alessandroselli@???>
VOIP SIP: dhatarattha@???
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