[Live-devel] older source archives

[Steffen Sledz]

On 24.11.2011 20:23, Ross Finlayson wrote:
>>>> They are needed especially for maintained distributions (in our case OpenEmbedded[1] related distributions like Ångström[2]), where it is not acceptable to switch to a latest version every few days.
>>>
>>> I don't understand.  Nobody is making you switch to the latest version whenever it comes out (although it's a good idea to stay reasonably up-to-date, and it's very easy to do so).  If you are using an older version of the code, then you have it.  Why do you need a web site to access a version of the code that you already have??
>>
>> The OpenEmbedded related distributions are used by many developers and companies developing for embedded devices. They are not distributed as a set of binaries or source archives, but as a set of metadata describing where to fetch the sources, and how to build, install, and package them.
> 
> OK, but I still don't understand.  In the case of the "LIVE555 Streaming Media" software, the "metadata describing where to fetch the sources" can simply be a link to
> http://www.live555.com/liveMedia/public/live555-latest.tar.gz
> which tells you where to get the latest (and most bug-free) version of the code.  Why not just do this?
> 
>> So someone who like/need to build a distribution needs to be able to download the specified versions over a longer time.
> 
> No, they should always be using the latest version of the software.

In theory this may be right. But in the real world outside there this is definitely wrong.

It seems that you do not understand the work of a distribution maintainer. He has to pick versions of dozens or hundreds of packages and make them work *together*. This needs (depending of the kind of the distribution) a lot of testing which makes it impossible to follow your strategy.

In the case of our distributions which often are used for embedded industrial devices the problem is much bigger.

In some industrial environments it is necessary to run very expensive certification procedures on *each* software change. So if i have a version of a package which fulfills all requirements *in my distribution context* i definitely will not change to a newer one.

Regards,
Steffen

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