Discussion:
[Grml] Let me reframe the question, then I'll go join the devel list...
Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
2011-12-28 13:28:53 UTC
Permalink
So, I will take the suggestion to go participate on the devel list...

And I understand the reluctance to just keep stuff that isn't tested...

And, it even makes sense to see what people scream about, after all,
there is an old saying, if you don't wear it for a year, throw it away...

But, I think it is fair to re-frame the question, in a _rescue_ context.

For rescue, one often finds oneself suddenly with _only_ one's rescue
media. Having the latest kernel isn't so important, but being able to
quickly and easily do something-or-other *at all* is important.

So the question is, we've been talking about what 11.12 removes. For
_rescue_, what does it _add_ over 11.5? EFI boot support is a candidate
for something that would matter, but cleanup, mDNS, auto-startups, build
stuff for grml, zsh config, terminal fonts, etc . - doesn't really matter.

For me personally, I use grml for rescue and reformats and recoveries.
Often I boot virtual machines with it, also, to do something-or-other
to a copy of a running machine. I'm not kidding that the most common
thing I do boils down to chains of netcat/tar/cpio/lzop/gzip/buffer/nc
to move around disk images or virtual machines, and having both buffer
and lzop even considered for removal gives me pause that maybe this tool
is going in a direction different than what my uses and needs are.

So, for me, the question is really simple - 2011.05 is a pefect fit for
my current needs - should I just take that as the gold-standard final-
release and not look back? 2011.05 is working _fine_ for me - even a
couple of hours to learn how to build a -full myself, never mind the hours
to become active, is more driven by idle curiosity and a desire to support
the tool than it is by common sense. Common sense for me would be, 2011.05
ain't broke and I'm unlikely to have hardware in the next 5 years that cares
for newer kernels. Common sense would be to slide the write protect tab on
a few USB sticks and figure you've painted your masterpiece and it is done.

The question is, what reasons are there to upgrade? Aside from it
being smaller and advantages arising directly from it being smaller?

-Tom
--
"Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, the market, the street, the
office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front
rank of some great battle, and we knew that victory for mankind depended upon
our bravery, strength, and skill. When we do that the humblest of us will be
serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world."
--Theodore Parker
The little girl expects no declaration of tenderness from her doll.
She loves it -- and that's all. It is thus that we should love.
-- DeGourmont
Christian Hofstaedtler
2011-12-28 15:32:46 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
[...]
So, for me, the question is really simple - 2011.05 is a pefect fit for
my current needs - should I just take that as the gold-standard final-
release and not look back? 2011.05 is working _fine_ for me - even a
couple of hours to learn how to build a -full myself, never mind the hours
to become active, is more driven by idle curiosity and a desire to support
the tool than it is by common sense. Common sense for me would be, 2011.05
ain't broke and I'm unlikely to have hardware in the next 5 years that cares
for newer kernels. Common sense would be to slide the write protect tab on
a few USB sticks and figure you've painted your masterpiece and it is done.
This is exactly the problem. By your common sense, we should not
have released 2011.12 at all, and probably just stopped releasing
completely.

You say - rightly so - that becoming active would cost you lots of
hours. Staying active costs _us_ lots of hours.
Sure, I can apply common sense here, too: stop the loss of hours,
cut the expenses. Hope that someone else will take over.

Might just do that.

-ch
--
christian hofstaedtler
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Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
2011-12-28 19:21:06 UTC
Permalink
Post by Christian Hofstaedtler
This is exactly the problem. By your common sense, we should not
have released 2011.12 at all, and probably just stopped releasing
completely.
Or, slow drastically. Just release kernel upgrades with new hardware.
Occaisional enhancements. Stop following busy upstreams. Freeze a lot.
Post by Christian Hofstaedtler
You say - rightly so - that becoming active would cost you lots of
hours. Staying active costs _us_ lots of hours.
Sure, I can apply common sense here, too: stop the loss of hours,
cut the expenses. Hope that someone else will take over.
Might just do that.
There is active, and then there is active.

-Tom
Post by Christian Hofstaedtler
_______________________________________________
Grml mailing list - Grml at ml.grml.org
http://ml.grml.org/mailman/listinfo/grml
join #grml on irc.freenode.org
grml-devel-blog: http://blog.grml.org/
--
"Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, the market, the street, the
office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front
rank of some great battle, and we knew that victory for mankind depended upon
our bravery, strength, and skill. When we do that the humblest of us will be
serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world."
--Theodore Parker
The little girl expects no declaration of tenderness from her doll.
She loves it -- and that's all. It is thus that we should love.
-- DeGourmont
Christian Hofstaedtler
2011-12-28 21:11:44 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
Post by Christian Hofstaedtler
This is exactly the problem. By your common sense, we should not
have released 2011.12 at all, and probably just stopped releasing
completely.
Or, slow drastically. Just release kernel upgrades with new hardware.
Occaisional enhancements. Stop following busy upstreams. Freeze a lot.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That is exactly what we've done.

(Note that we can't just keep the packages at an old version as the
release is always based on top of Debian testing/unstable.)

-ch

Ulrich Dangel
2011-12-28 15:57:29 UTC
Permalink
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
But, I think it is fair to re-frame the question, in a _rescue_ context.
So the question is, we've been talking about what 11.12 removes. For
_rescue_, what does it _add_ over 11.5? EFI boot support is a candidate
for something that would matter, but cleanup, mDNS, auto-startups, build
stuff for grml, zsh config, terminal fonts, etc . - doesn't really matter.
First of all it is not only about rescue but also installation. Meaning
mDNS can be quite useful for remote access the machine itself.

The other things are mainly to make the environment viable and enhance
it. Sure we could have removed iceweasel completly (which we did btw. in
one version) but we re-added it.
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
For me personally, I use grml for rescue and reformats and recoveries.
Often I boot virtual machines with it, also, to do something-or-other
to a copy of a running machine. I'm not kidding that the most common
thing I do boils down to chains of netcat/tar/cpio/lzop/gzip/buffer/nc
to move around disk images or virtual machines, and having both buffer
and lzop even considered for removal gives me pause that maybe this tool
is going in a direction different than what my uses and needs are.
I personally never used lzop. And you can work without buffer as you
said before. And I immediatly added lzop after you complained. I don't
see that your requirements are totally different than our direction.
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
to become active, is more driven by idle curiosity and a desire to support
the tool than it is by common sense. Common sense for me would be, 2011.05
ain't broke and I'm unlikely to have hardware in the next 5 years that cares
for newer kernels. Common sense would be to slide the write protect tab on
a few USB sticks and figure you've painted your masterpiece and it is done.
That is always a valid option.
Post by Tom {Tomcat} Oehser
The question is, what reasons are there to upgrade? Aside from it
being smaller and advantages arising directly from it being smaller?
Never change a running system -> None. If you don't need anything/want
any changes from the current Grml version none. Though if you stubmle
upon a bug we may need you to upgrade to the latest version ;0

Ulrich
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