Python stuff

[Mike Bird]

On Mon, 2006-02-20 at 21:32, Nicolas Kassis wrote:
> Is 41.8 MB such a huge chunk ? Seriously there are many other packages
> which are much larger that will see less use than the python packages.
> The fact is in the future these packages might be used by other apps
> that are not installed by default. Ubuntu is trying to provide an good
> development framework for developers and users to extend and customize
> Ubuntu. I thinks thats a good idea and warrant the 41.8 MB. Even a 6
> years old machine can spare that much.  Using Desktop Ubuntu on anything
> older that is much older is not smart. It's definitively the wrong tool
> for the job.

Yes, 41.8 MB is a huge chunk of fairly volatile scripts which
will probably have a bunch of security holes over time which
would be better omitted.  That said, the Python question is
most significant when viewed as one aspect of the overall
Ubuntu problem.

Ubuntu's greatest contribution was in making a stable version
of Debian every six months.  That's why we switched to Ubuntu.

Except that Ubuntu is becoming unusable for serious work
because it's also a playground for a bunch of techies, some
of whom have absolutely no idea of how Unix systems work or
the consequences of their actions.  Every couple of months
we see another argument when someone has deployed yet another
half-baked change without first checking with any experienced
developers.

And that's why we're switching back to Debian.

I can see why Mark doesn't separate the two phases.  It would
undermine Canonical's business plan to have a usable up-to-date
Debian without the silly parts.

However, if Mark is really serious about benefiting humanity
rather than just locking in support contracts for a wacky
new distro, it would be far better if the "stabilized Debian"
intermediate product was made available in addition to the
highly volatile Ubuntu.

--Mike Bird