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Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

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Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#271

Post by wazoox »

vbernat wrote: post #243
pwdisswordfish wrote: post #89

HEADLINE: Easier way to create local packages DESCRIPTION: My first distro was Debian. Then, for a while, I used Arch. But it kept irritating me with its total disregard for backwards-compatibility (symlinking /usr/bin/python to python3), coarse-grained packages (want to install QEMU PPC without pulling in every other architecture as well? too bad!), lack of debug packages (good luck rebuilding WebKit just to get sta…

Creating your own packages with Debian tools is easier now than ever. Unfortunately, the documentation may be lagging a bit and will also focus of making state-of-the-art packages. Last year, I have written some examples on how to do simple packages while still leveraging Debian tools: https://vincent.bernat.im/en/blog/2016-pragmatic-debian-pack... Also, automatic package generation for many languages already providi…

Jeebus, my old chap from the old times of fr.comp.os.linux.* actually lurks HN, my that brings memories back :)

Sorry for this completely irrelevant interruption :)

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#272

Post by atemerev »

vbernat wrote: post #243
pwdisswordfish wrote: post #89

HEADLINE: Easier way to create local packages DESCRIPTION: My first distro was Debian. Then, for a while, I used Arch. But it kept irritating me with its total disregard for backwards-compatibility (symlinking /usr/bin/python to python3), coarse-grained packages (want to install QEMU PPC without pulling in every other architecture as well? too bad!), lack of debug packages (good luck rebuilding WebKit just to get sta…

Creating your own packages with Debian tools is easier now than ever. Unfortunately, the documentation may be lagging a bit and will also focus of making state-of-the-art packages. Last year, I have written some examples on how to do simple packages while still leveraging Debian tools: https://vincent.bernat.im/en/blog/2016-pragmatic-debian-pack... Also, automatic package generation for many languages already providi…

If there is no documentation, the feature doesn't exist. If the documentation is misleading or outdated, it's even worse — like a productivity sabotage, stealing many work hours from your fellow developers (looking at you, Docker).

I understand that expecting something from free and open source software beyond bare necessities can sound like being entitled. And yet, I believe that documentation is not optional. Software with better documentation wins. All the time.

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#274

Post by omginternets »

bigon wrote: post #206
omginternets wrote: post #30

HEADLINE SELinux installed by default DESCRIPTION Not sure what else to say...

This one is (partially) for me I guess. There is still some work needed for this to happen. The SELinux support should be added in the debian-installer and the policy needs to be generic enough to support several (basic?) usecases. The later is the difficult part, if the policy is not working for them, people will in most of the case just disable SELinux completely. Having a list of well tested usecases (LAMP, DNS,..…

How can I (familiar with linux, but not with the details of SELinux) help?

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#276

Post by cyberpunk5000 »

HEADLINE: concrete release timelines

DESCRIPTION: For many years I've been fond of Debian and have used it for side hobby projects. But I've had to use Ubuntu and Fedora for real work because I need a modicum of certainty about the intervals between releases.

I acknowledge that Ubuntu's rigid release-every-6-months, LTS-every-24 is impractical for a volunteer project with high standards. But without any firm timeline it's impossible for me to plan and use Debian in production.

For example, a commitment that releases will always be spaced somewhere between 6 and 24 months, would go a long way.

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#277

Post by cyberpunk5000 »

HEADLINE: separate user "apps" from system "packages"

DESCRIPTION: In my use cases, which I think are common, I want a stable base operating system and user interface, but for the applications I work with every day (browser, compiler, office suite, etc.) to be cutting edge.

My dream is to separate packages into two tiers with different update policies, similar to the Android and Apple app stores, and for that matter BSD ports. Platform software like the kernel, system libc, X11, and desktop environments release and update like stable. "Apps" like Firefox and LibreOffice are easily installed and updated on a rolling basis.

I know that I can achieve this now with a custom backports and apt pinning config, but that's more of a low-level project than I'm envisioning. My request is for something that's more of a newbie-friendly point-and-click sort of thing.

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#278

Post by chungy »

HEADLINE: Promote x32 to official status and recommend it as the default install.

DESCRIPTION: The Linux x32 ABI, for the most part, combines the best of both worlds in x86: the lower memory footprint of 32-bit software (and likewise, 4GiB process limits to go with it) by keeping pointer sizes and data types the same as i386, but still allowing applications to take advantage of the expanded registers, instructions, and features of x86_64 CPUs. For most systems that aren't database servers, this can result in large memory footprint reductions and greater performance as a result. Debian has had an unofficial x32 port for years, that is presently difficult to install and get running.

DISTRIBUTION: unstable

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#279

Post by pikaz1 »

DESCRIPTION: on distros like arch, to a lesser extent void and even gentoo, writing package definition files (PKGBUILDs, ebuilds, templates) is relatively straightforward; in contrast, i don't(http://bit.ly/2sqwUOj) even know where to start with finding, editing and building debian packages. i think they're built from source packages but beyond that i have no clue. i think visibility of documentation could help here, if not more radical changes to be more similar to the arch/gentoo workflow.

Re: Ask HN: What do you want to see in Debian 10 (“buster”)?

#280

Post by jasonwc17 »

heftysync wrote: post #124

HEADLINE: First class ZFS install support on Live CD. DESCRIPTION: The license conflict between the open source ZFS and open source Linux kernel mean ZFS needs to be in contrib. Unlike a lot of other packages in contrib, ZFS doesn't rely on any non-free software. It just can't be in Debian main because of the conflict of licenses. However, it would be nice if there was a way to have a more official path to ZFS on roo…

I would really like to see ZFS make it into the regular install image. Debian already releases an install image with non-free firmware and ZFS is free software. It just has an incompatible license.

The specific issue you mention about creating the initramfs file is actually not necessary in Stretch since this file already exists. There have been other, more significant changes in Stretch as well. (Note: I've contributed to the Debian Jessie ZFS on Root Howto and have followed this guide for numerous systems on both Jessie and Stretch).

1) ZFS has made it into Debian Stretch, so it is no longer necessary to add the backports repository. You just need contrib.

2) The grub-pc package in Stretch provides ZFS support. In contrast, Jessie required installing the package from Testing, and this could cause issues with prior versions of the Howto, as it would often pull Grub's dependencies from Testing as well, blocking installation of among other things, Gnome. The Howto now ensures that dependencies are satisfied from Stable.

3) Since ZFS and grub-pc can be installed from Stable, there's no need to add the /etc/apt/preferences file for pinning priority.

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