[fab] Fw: [Bug 174307] RPM 4.4.6 is available

[Greg DeKoenigsberg]

On Sun, 9 Jul 2006, Jesse Keating wrote:

> On Sunday 09 July 2006 13:05, Michael Tiemann wrote:
> > Ugh indeed. Â But I take the other position--why is there no explanation
> > from the Red Hat side as to why we're not following upstream? Â I think
> > this is a case of "lead, follow, or get out of the way", and by taking
> > no proactive position on the subject, we're being asked to follow or get
> > out of the way. Â If we put a clear explanation why we're not following
> > upstream, at least people would know where we stand and why.
> 
> We've been selectively backporting the parts from upstream that make sense.  
> There are some changes that have gone into the upstream RPM releases that 
> we're really not comfortable consuming, such as soft requires (suggests, 
> recommends, enhances) stuff like that.  I think there are many more examples 
> of feature sets that we're really not comfortable with, I don't have a list 
> in front of me.

That "soft requires" is one of the key differences between rpm and deb.  
If jbj is trying to get rpm and deb closer, are we getting in the way of 
that perhaps-worthy goal by dragging our feet?

> This really does sound like a fork situation.  An abandonment may not be in 
> our best favor right now, but a fork to further develop how we see fit and 
> repair how we see fit w/out having to fight with unsavory upstream developers 
> may be the best technical solution.

Then we need to have the sack to say "we're forking RPM," and take the 
abuse that comes with it.  Because this half-assed selective uptake stuff 
is just making us look bad.

So is Fedora the tail that wags the dog here?  Do we just Take The 
Decision, or do we try to figure out why RH engineering is unwilling to 
take a public stance first?

--g

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