Package youtube-dl

Sun Mar 7 19:48:24 UTC 2021

The missing cc:

On 3/7/21 5:55 AM, Gunnar Hjalmarsson wrote:
> Hi again, Franklin.
>
> I haven't read your whole answer yet. I certainly will.
>
> But I noticed that you replied to me only. Can you please send your 
> reply to the mailing list too, so others can participate if they want.
>
> / Gunnar
>
>
> On 2021-03-07 11:20, Franklin Hunter wrote:
>> Hello, Gunnar.
>>
>> For such a short reply, there was a lot for me to think about....in 
>> both what you said, and what you cited.
>>
>> My original email had also included:
>>
>>     Is there an online form for this? I was reading info from "dpkg -s"
>>     and "apt-cache showpkg" , so I can't easily see if Debian has or
>>     hasn't rolled theirs. I'm thinking of something with visibility of
>>     whether Ubuntu is getting it from developers or Debian, and how much
>>     mucking is required to make it appropriate for Ubuntu.
>>
>>     This is Linux, and we can always do a ppa or compile our own, but
>>     Ubuntu's package curation in its distros is highly valued and
>>     appreciated. It'd be nice if we could see where more or less of that
>>     curation might be necessary.
>>
>> I understood that there must be some policy for stable release 
>> updates, because the Ubuntu project is known for its quality -- and 
>> such a policy is necessary for consistent quality. After having read 
>> the policy, however, I can see where some disconnects between the 
>> policy and user expectations may be inevitable.
>>
>> Let's start out with the easy stuff.....
>>
>> You say:
>>
>>     At the same time I know that youtube-dl upstream is updated
>>     frequently, and that it's a pain to try use anything but the latest
>>     upstream. IMO there are reasons to question why it's present in the
>>     Debian/Ubuntu archives at all.
>>
>> Now that I've read the policy, I fully agree. The package youtube-dl 
>> should not be in a repository under the current SRU policy. The 
>> policy also notes various environmental exceptions in section 2.1, 
>> particularly the fourth bullet point. Environmental circumstances are 
>> also listed in sections 9.11, 9.23, 10.1 and, to a certain extent, 
>> section 12. [Very likely, more sections of 9 would apply, but I'm not 
>> sufficiently familiar with them.] Lynis should also not be in a 
>> repository under current SRU policy.
>>
>> Now might be a good time to reflect on what a policy is supposed to 
>> be.... A policy should be a _framework of action_ to further 
>> _enterprise goals_. The SRU policy is to further the enterprise goal 
>> to provide releases (particularly LTS releases) that are rock-solid, 
>> of the highest quality, and maintain functionality for the entire 
>> support period. Packages are chosen to support this goal, and 
>> supported (within SRU) towards this end.
>>
>> Packages such as youtube-dl, all browsers, time zone data, and clamav 
>> definitions (and lynis) _cannot_ fit within this definition. Rather 
>> than individually carve them out, it should be recognized that a 
>> different class of package is out there -- one that neither Ubuntu 
>> nor Debian really control. They may be involved in an armaments race 
>> (as various malware v. malware detectors and preventions) or in a 
>> standards race, or in a race to keep up with political malfeasance 
>> (tzdata). Why not recognize them as a class and deal with them 
>> efficiently?
>>
>> So, what are other enterprise goals? The impulse to include lynis, 
>> youtube-dl, browsers, and other packages within a distro is driven by 
>> a desire to be "complete" and "competitive" and be useful "as 
>> installed". Those are entirely valid goals for the enterprise. 
>> Furthermore, a distro may want to be "cool" and "popular" in order to 
>> increase market share and/or support. It may also be that user's 
>> expectations are that Ubuntu (or Debian) provide a "complete Linux 
>> environment" that can be compared to other current Linux distros, and 
>> provide immediate bragging rights over those who cling to Microserfdom.
>>
>> These are all worthy goals for an enterprise that wants to survive -- 
>> though some purists may consider them crass. But where is the policy 
>> for these goals? It struck me, while reading through the SRU policy, 
>> that it was unclear where functionality suggestions might 
>> originate.....but it didn't look like there was any room for user input.
>>
>> In light of current realities, I would suggest that there be a 
>> further division of Ubuntu repositories for packages that users might 
>> otherwise ppa, reviewed at a lesser level than would be appropriate 
>> for other repositories, to achieve the enterprise goal of "complete 
>> Linux environment" and useful "as installed". I should note that 
>> something similar is done with Ubuntu Studio. All browsers probably 
>> belong in this repo, as well as youtube-dl and security packages. 
>> These packages stand or fall on their own, and (to protect the core) 
>> they have been tested to not crash core functionality. This would, 
>> BTW, make you one of the first distros to officially include Brave 
>> and clarify your relationship with Tor.
>>
>> Incidentally, if you adopt any of this, please credit to "cthulhu" so 
>> I can include on my resume. "Franklin Hunter" is synthetic.
>>
>> Second, you should have an online form for requested updates, and a 
>> public-facing database for tracking them. Note that I am not 
>> suggesting what you do with them......because that should evolve as 
>> data accumulates.
>>
>> Third, you should monitor tools such as https://repology.org/ to see 
>> how the freshness of your packages compare to other distros.
>>
>> Fourth, the SRU policy is currently written for maintainers, but 
>> fails to reference either enterprise goals or user expectations. It 
>> might correctly function in that manner, but it cannot be optimized 
>> as long as the goals and expectations are not explicitly linked [In 
>> real life, I'm a CPA with extensive experience with internal audit.]. 
>> Each section should start with the corporate goal and end with the 
>> benefit to the consumer. Maintainers will also get less grief and 
>> more joy if they can say, "I'm doing 3.25 to further corporate goal X 
>> and consumer benefit Y" instead of "I'm doing 3.25 because it's the 
>> rule."
>>
>> Thank you, again, Gunnar Hjalmarsson, for a peek inside a structure 
>> that I appreciate and applaud. I hope that it only gets better from 
>> here.
>>
>> Cooth
>>
>> On 3/6/21 4:19 PM, Gunnar Hjalmarsson wrote:
>>> Hi Franklin,
>>>
>>> On 2021-03-05 07:45, Franklin Hunter wrote:
>>>> The version in focal is 2020.03.24-1 .
>>>>
>>>> The developer is at 2021.03.03.
>>>>
>>>> Can it get freshened?
>>>
>>> It can't be updated easily given Ubuntu's policy for stable release 
>>> updates.
>>>
>>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/StableReleaseUpdates
>>>
>>> At the same time I know that youtube-dl upstream is updated 
>>> frequently, and that it's a pain to try use anything but the latest 
>>> upstream. IMO there are reasons to question why it's present in the 
>>> Debian/Ubuntu archives at all.
>>>
>>> There are two much better options:
>>>
>>> 1. Install it as a snap (the latest/edge channel).
>>>
>>> 2. Install it from upstream:
>>>
>>> https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl#installation
>>>
>
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