Debian flamewar (was: Can I bother you with another Linux question?)

[Ben Scott]

On 11/21/05, Ken D'Ambrosio <ken at jots.org> wrote:
> Wow.  Deep breath, all.

  You misunderstand.  This is *entertainment*.  Especially when
someone hands you a straight line like the OP did!  :-)

> Debian -- stock Debian -- sucks to install.

  It's funny how Debian people almost always admit this, sometimes
even preemptively.  I get it ever time I rant about Debian.  And yet I
don't think I've ever specifically ranted about the installer.  Not in
years, in any event.

  I found the Debian Sarge installer to be a huge improvement over
previous iterations.  The basics (at a minimum) of hardware detection
and automatic module support are all there.  A few  of the questions
seemed silly (as they would answer themselves in a few screens), or
poorly designed from a user standpoint, but all in all, it was quite
serviceable.  Sure, it wasn't the point-and-drool iconfest that Red
Hat provides, but it worked.  That's always my biggest criteria: Does
the damn thing work?

> I fail to see this as a reason to "love Debian", and, yet, I do.

  I admire many aspects of the Debian project.

  The Debian Social Contract and Debian Free Software Guidelines
concisely and clearly state the ideals behind FOSS better then just
about everything I've seen.  A distribution built by and owned by the
user community.  Software by the people and for the people.  As goals
go, it just doesn't get much better then that.

  I love the the idea that each package is traceable to the packager,
and that they are held at least somewhat personally responsible for
their work.  No faceless corporation or even project to hide behind. 
If Joe screws up, it's Joe's fault.  (In theory, anyway.)  In these
days of lawsuits and disclaimers, that kind of personal accountability
is as rare as unicorn blood.

  And, from a pragmatic point of view, the huge package repository is
a wonderful thing.

  Debian-the-distribution, I like and admire.  It's
Debian-the-religion that I have a problem with.  It leads to things
Not Working, and for Stupid Reasons.  (See criteria #1, above.)  If a
bug report is greeted with flames about how you're an idiot for
choosing to install the provided package, something is broken, and
it's not the software.  I could get into details, but I think the
rant-within-a-rant of my last post covers the gist well enough, and
doing more would likely not be entertaining.  Don't want that.

> ALL THAT BEING SAID, however, superficial sniping is just plain silly.

  But entertaining!  :)

-- Ben "I like to play with fire!" Scott