What would it take to make Software Collections work in Fedora?

[Michael Scherer]

Le dimanche 09 décembre 2012 à 14:26 -0500, Jon Masters a écrit :
> On 12/06/2012 10:38 AM, Michael Scherer wrote:
> 
> > People are annoyed to go to different bugzilla to report bugs, people
> > are annoyed to go to different shops to shop for stuff ( as seen by the
> > success of amazon, or even itunes, etc ), so why would it make sense to
> > have a different way depending on what you want to install ?
> 
> If I may, that comparison is flawed. When I shop at Amazon, I can buy
> the same product that I can buy at a "big box" store, or a smaller
> retailer. I'm enjoying the convenience of going to the App Store
> (Amazon) but I can also install the software myself (go to the local
> retailer), and it's all the same bits either way. It's not welded shut.
> Although the retailers want to screw each other out of business,
> competition laws require them to generally conform to the notion that I
> can get my bits wherever I want and install them into my home, etc.

Well, you can still install what you want. My point is just this is more
convenient to not have different way to do the same exact thing. ( think
gem vs distribution rpm, for one, this is a recipe for conflicts and
problems, as they have different support lifecycle, and different
features )

> My biggest problem with the "one true repo" approach is that it creates
> this (flawed) notion that software is either right or wrong: it's either
> completely Open Source and shipped in the distro, or it's out there on
> an island. 

Having one repo and refusing commercial software are 2 different issues.
Even with many repositories, you can refuse to distribute non open
source softwares ( for various reasons, like "this is being too much
work to make contract and manage money" ), and you can perfectly ship
non open source software in your repository, provided you have the right
to redistribute them and still have 1 single repository. 

> I like Open Source, I like some proprietary software too. I
> like some software from folks who don't care about packaging it for
> distros. I like some commercial software. I want my Operating System to
> provide a (small) stable platform that people can target. Then, by all
> means do an Amazon. But much as I like Apple, don't do an Apple (iOS)
> App Store where that's the only way to get bits, do it like they do on
> the desktop where there's still choice.

This is free software, there isn't much way to lock people into doing
your way only. But that doesn't mean the project should be without rules
and use the ressources for anything.

If we want to ensure quality, there is a need for a common set of rules
to follow to make everything work smoothly. And either you make sure the
rules are followed ( by having 1 single entry point, for example ), or
you do not care, and you will just end with a lower quality. Every check
that is added and that can be bypassed will be bypassed sooner or later
by people who do not care, do not understand, or not have the
ressources.

And the same goes for having a stable platform, you have to make sure
that the platform is well defined, so people do not start to use
something outside of the platform ( or it will not work ). In fact,
that's what the LSB attempted to do, yet no one ask for it in this
thread. So maybe people who want a stable platform should investigate
what is the status of the LSB support in Fedora, what are the needs of
the ISVs, and find a plan to make them supported.

-- 
Michael Scherer