From: yee@mipgsun.mipg.upenn.edu (Conway Yee) Subject: Re: Linux vs. the world Date: 5 Aug 1992 21:45:16 GMT
kennu@mits.mdata.fi (Kenneth Falck) writes:
>Maybe it's good to have plenty of choice, but what's also
>annoying is that the ftp-sites contain a lot of old and
>useless software, and it's hard to tell what is meant to be
>used with the current kernel...
Well, Linux development is done as a hobby basically because it is
fun. So far, nobody has decided it was fun to sort out all the
archives and maintain them.
Remember, you get what you pay for. Wrt Linux, I would say we get a
heck of a lot more than we pay for.
>So what I mean is that since everyone always wants to get the
>latest kernel whenever one is released, and a new kernel always
>brings some trouble,
True. Remember, this is experimental software--bugs are inevitable.
In addition, new features/faster features are being added all the
time.
>kernels shouldn't be released too frequently
>after 1.0. Maybe this is what Linus has planned, I don't know..
Here, I disagree. One of the main reasons why Linux is so exciting is
that it is developing very quickly. Basically, kernel hacking is fun.
>Also I hope that if 1.0 becomes the main release for some time,
I disagree here also. What happens (as is inevitable) that a bug is
found, a faster version of an old feature is written or that it is
decided that Linux is desperately missing a needed feature?
If you want stability, you can run a version that you find is
satisfactory and stick with it. This inconveniences nobody else and
you have your stability.
>old and useless stuff could be deleted or archived to some special
>directory on ftp-sites.
Well, old and useless stuff should be deleted but who is going to do
this? Somebody has to volunteer for the job.
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