SuSE Security Announcement: packages containing libz/zlib (SuSE-SA:2002:011) (tandem-announcement, second part)
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
______________________________________________________________________________
SuSE Security Announcement
Package: packages containing libz/zlib
Announcement-ID: SuSE-SA:2002:011
Date: Monday, Mar 11th 2002 20:50 MET
Affected SuSE versions: 6.4, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3
SuSE Linux Database Server
SuSE eMail Server III
SuSE Firewall
SuSE Linux Connectivity Server
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 7
Vulnerability Type: possible remote command execution
Severity (1-10): 8
SuSE default package: yes
Other affected systems: systems with these packages compiled with
default compile time options
Content of this advisory:
1) security vulnerability resolved: packages containing libz/zlib
problem description, discussion, solution and upgrade information
2) pending vulnerabilities, solutions, workarounds
3) standard appendix (further information)
______________________________________________________________________________
1) problem description, brief discussion, solution, upgrade information
This is the second announcement in the tandem-announcement about
libz/zlib.
SuSE Security Announcement SuSE-SA:2002:010 (libz/zlib) has been released
prior to this announcement (SuSE-SA:2002:011). Please see SuSE-SA:2002:010
for details on the libz weakness. The two announcements SuSE-SA:2002:010
and SuSE-SA:2002:011 are being published in quick succession.
The packages affected by the double-free() libz bug can be devided into
two categories:
1) packages that link dynamically against the system-provided
compression library. These packages get fixed automatically with
the update of the libz package as described in SuSE-SA:2002:010.
Please note that the processes will continue to use the old
version of the libz.so shared library if the have not been
restarted after the libz package upgrade.
2) packages that contain the compression library in their own
source distribution. These packages need an individual bugfix.
We have prepared update packages for this software that can be
downloaded from the locations as shown below.
The following is a list of the packages in category 2):
gpg
rsync
cvs
rrdtool
freeamp
netscape
vnc
kernel
In detail:
gpg:
gpg brings its own libz/zlib source. The fixed update packages
are available on the ftp server. The packages for SuSE Linux
6.4 and 7.0 are located on ftp.suse.de, all other packages can
be found on ftp.suse.com.
The package for SuSE Linux 7.3, Intel i386 platform, is
currently building and will be available shortly.
rsync:
The rsync package brings its own libz/zlib source. In addition
to the libz/zlib fixes, the rsync package has a number of other
security related problems fixed: The rsync daemon now properly
initializes group memberships when it changes to another userID.
The last security fix in the rsync packages has been corrected
to improve the reliability of the program.
The fixed update packages are available on the ftp server.
cvs:
The cvs package brings its own libz/zlib source. In addition
to the libz/zlib fixes, the cvs packages in SuSE Linux 6.4 and
7.0 contain a fix for a buffer overflow that may be remotely
exploitable. Versions of the cvs packages later than 7.0 do not
contain this flaw.
rrdtool:
SuSE Linux 7.2 and newer contain the package rrdtool. It brings
its own source of the libz/zlib compression library. Fixed
packages are available for download on the ftp server.
freeamp:
The freeamp package brings its own libz/zlib source. Fixed
packages for SuSE Linux 7.1 and 7.0 are available for download.
The update packages for the newer distributions will follow
soon without any further announcement.
netscape:
New netscape binary packages are expected from netscape.com soon.
Due to the closed source nature of the software, we depend on
netscape to fix the package.
vnc:
The vnc package brings its own libz/zlib source. We will provide
fixed packages for our supported products shortly. The
availiability of these packages will be announced in section 2)
of the next SuSE Security Announcement.
kernel:
The kernel of Linux systems is affected by the libz/zlib double-
free() problem as well. The routines from the compression library
are being used by functions that uncompress filesystems loaded
into ramdisks and other non-security-critical occasions. However,
the kernel uses the compression library in the ppp layer as well
as in the freeswan IPSec kernel module.
We are currently in the process of preparing update packages that
fix numerous other problems (some of them security related) in
both the 2.2 and the 2.4 series kernel. The availiability of these
kernel RPM packages will be announced in a seperate SuSE Security
Announcement soon.
Note:
The openssh package contains binaries that are linked dynamically against
libz.so. The ssh package, however, links statically against its own
version of the compression library. This version of libz/zlib is not
vulnerable to the double-free() problem.
Please download the update package for your distribution and verify its
integrity by the methods listed in section 3) of this announcement.
Then, install the package using the command "rpm -Fhv file.rpm" to apply
the update.
Our maintenance customers are being notified individually. The packages
are being offered to install from the maintenance web.
i386 Intel Platform:
SuSE-7.3
The gpg packages are currently building and will be available on the ftp
server shortly.
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/n2/rsync-2.4.6-361.i386.rpm
d93679eb6200bc549966b03e3ef5b713
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/d2/cvs-1.11-216.i386.rpm
dfc4ef94db20ade5dec95d7ffeeea5c3
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/ap3/rrdtool-1.0.33-186.i386.rpm
3f74c8ad1a12a20b1500ba2b316a6096
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-361.src.rpm
a3159d325cd2e61ffabbb7bc29d6612d
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/zq1/cvs-1.11-216.src.rpm
890df2775fa65847f294048bf002ab86
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.3/zq1/rrdtool-1.0.33-186.src.rpm
7079579c4d60e5d9cf324f544475d6e2
SuSE-7.2
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-193.i386.rpm
18aaed31374c7d25950f9c329db2b3da
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/n2/rsync-2.4.6-362.i386.rpm
16b2209c444bfe197b90b53913bea10f
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/d2/cvs-1.11-216.i386.rpm
82b197d54348aaa266a30870fa9c7333
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/ap3/rrdtool-1.0.33-186.i386.rpm
85c086395eb5092468b9c368214d0f55
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-193.src.rpm
69313e9586549babb354348aeca613e4
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-362.src.rpm
4289b7727bd48da50948d228699f27bc
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/cvs-1.11-216.src.rpm
a4ddfb02d6c1ef9340ad05019eebb725
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.2/zq1/rrdtool-1.0.33-186.src.rpm
ca694bf598759e07d58d15750f436827
SuSE-7.1
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-192.i386.rpm
b4d7d22864a78d36b61bf6151861acc7
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/n2/rsync-2.4.6-361.i386.rpm
f9bb2a436ab97972d32fd998909ed289
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/d2/cvs-1.11-216.i386.rpm
2b4c10d95d29e02c2ffc1ed89872d5d3
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-192.src.rpm
3648286b5847f2203a6debca039bfe09
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-361.src.rpm
56fc72c1c1e2780ab50944ac65148af3
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.1/zq1/cvs-1.11-216.src.rpm
c2fe82d14f8d98e33da59440872e1abf
SuSE-7.0
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-192.i386.rpm
1030cfbfaa661692f40c8779bcfe7ebe
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/n1/rsync-2.3.2-130.i386.rpm
889cbb6f76b3eb0777894c25558a5ccf
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/d1/cvs-1.10.7-160.i386.rpm
6376028606f9e9fd5093fd3557ebceb1
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-192.src.rpm
c685b31952d90d701a96feaad51b50a6
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-130.src.rpm
6689e22925836a854b955f68306c57ae
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/7.0/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-160.src.rpm
b5864834aa05ba53873b5810af8c11fe
SuSE-6.4
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-191.i386.rpm
73e1bd61d721a40dc72845bcd540572a
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/n1/rsync-2.3.2-130.i386.rpm
16746c5c506f743120f947d422432376
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/d1/cvs-1.10.7-159.i386.rpm
d31b782a1d85795862acae8f0c89baf0
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-191.src.rpm
6b39ca4bb7297ad71d10fd79558480b7
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-130.src.rpm
5c23fc8d7c51ba8b2f9e255f65f8e612
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/i386/update/6.4/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-159.src.rpm
554ca35e9f536d82e042aebe847df28e
Sparc Platform:
SuSE-7.3
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-67.sparc.rpm
7bc6e19142f339667b40d4c6bbcda871
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/n2/rsync-2.4.6-149.sparc.rpm
f0f4339f9bb20fa27be5710c1491dbf8
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/d2/cvs-1.11-98.sparc.rpm
79ffbab2594865c3ce52de7227e3e501
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/ap3/rrdtool-1.0.33-49.sparc.rpm
2fae8f0fa23735fbe99c1d4d48d278c3
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-67.src.rpm
f78fa7647eed1fddfb3131254cbec4a9
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-149.src.rpm
3eb6724d9327254325870e23d5ee76c5
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/cvs-1.11-98.src.rpm
6ee4505a182e7684c60607451ef019fb
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.3/zq1/rrdtool-1.0.33-49.src.rpm
c4a683e01dfe459f5342ddc4fc6865bd
SuSE-7.1
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-67.sparc.rpm
b42f276176ed6a3d42e6471168e5dc15
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/n2/rsync-2.4.6-149.sparc.rpm
d3d47231dffdbf303031c0395b7cf6e3
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/d2/cvs-1.11-98.sparc.rpm
8a305786bbfee100b6c261e8b3a0be8f
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-67.src.rpm
59b434ba4d31264a55f602d3b66fa0f0
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-149.src.rpm
49f929cbe50425512d29948e26220089
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.1/zq1/cvs-1.11-98.src.rpm
c4eaa2c573904ffd6ffaf3db2efebcfe
SuSE-7.0
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-67.sparc.rpm
286642b0d5c7491c47c5570bad05a391
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/n1/rsync-2.3.2-8.sparc.rpm
030c775ec89eb227b2d34a80c993f2dc
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/d1/cvs-1.10.7-4.sparc.rpm
f0a734e3996bbb7a740c4bbb8d620218
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-67.src.rpm
14d52437ea98dfc47b7e5266aa7c675d
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-8.src.rpm
a42e3a8ad3852b58c80f3f25bd4a7873
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/sparc/update/7.0/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-4.src.rpm
c200f16ee87e6a559297795877260990
AXP Alpha Platform:
SuSE-7.1
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-91.alpha.rpm
d2b3f32faad4930aebd83448f8cfe52e
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/n2/rsync-2.4.6-160.alpha.rpm
75a09942d7abbb5faee6c57d25075ec2
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/d2/cvs-1.11-101.alpha.rpm
90ebabcec70121d6b4e578ed47e10475
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-91.src.rpm
d37f206d6627367af4173f16601f5f19
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-160.src.rpm
df8ab3b91f26d67484f773dec6227e80
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.1/zq1/cvs-1.11-101.src.rpm
348ec5ea873749a7de17efae7d32c6af
SuSE-7.0
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-91.alpha.rpm
385bbe68eab422ba8c06d6182acf3df0
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/n1/rsync-2.3.2-35.alpha.rpm
b0fd243d894fcdc354f092d7c171f776
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/d1/cvs-1.10.7-69.alpha.rpm
d5471a53f6f2b93cceb8e7ad8a2bde39
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-91.src.rpm
d2db252aeb9a231fe2ea9d42a1b40472
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-35.src.rpm
634bc1087e905ed1889400a82306957c
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/7.0/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-69.src.rpm
f5eda7e32648f0631772da3247f70245
SuSE-6.4
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-91.alpha.rpm
c1b82fda096a50de75f5d5b4851dd2b9
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/n1/rsync-2.3.2-36.alpha.rpm
567602c9a262398599d401db44469660
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/d1/cvs-1.10.7-69.alpha.rpm
56a7b8a0c5a122ddc5796a4445b4db71
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-91.src.rpm
28f3d6398d8cc232bf96247ca0cb895d
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-36.src.rpm
681e675e376481201e6d2be524eafbd7
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/axp/update/6.4/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-69.src.rpm
65aca598906f07fe8ac6633c80ec0804
PPC Power PC Platform:
SuSE-7.3
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-139.ppc.rpm
06986ca3c85c9211dd16bb7eb2142867
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/n2/rsync-2.4.6-212.ppc.rpm
b40a7114913eaffe54674a102ca92237
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/d2/cvs-1.11-104.ppc.rpm
ff7d174babb5d1213e8f90930243ce9c
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/ap3/rrdtool-1.0.33-124.ppc.rpm
1edd2d5d460a897d5ce563b8739a3deb
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-139.src.rpm
449dc67ed777e1587bf112f3a38459dc
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-212.src.rpm
586e78e122109e482d58dcdd87e13dee
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/cvs-1.11-104.src.rpm
a67270b4c932b5f83e593549c22b06a7
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.3/zq1/rrdtool-1.0.33-124.src.rpm
aa1dbd6e3ca7464508dce8cbe8c3904f
SuSE-7.1
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-139.ppc.rpm
2cd31ab33813c5747eb23a9f8c157d17
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/n2/rsync-2.4.6-212.ppc.rpm
a198784c826e61e1ad94c669a17ac9fa
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/d2/cvs-1.11-104.ppc.rpm
4d45a8606df41ba3d16f5543e6b89865
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-139.src.rpm
56ee6bc10a0a33bf6dad112c6462517a
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/zq1/rsync-2.4.6-212.src.rpm
e0952c2fade289e49e20b7d3d7063631
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.1/zq1/cvs-1.11-104.src.rpm
96a0520c693523de8eafb8c37abf16ba
SuSE-7.0
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-139.ppc.rpm
cee90f407dbabf66c9b9da119ad0e308
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/n1/rsync-2.3.2-137.ppc.rpm
edbbab80c23963791d5385155ce2511f
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/d1/cvs-1.10.7-170.ppc.rpm
bd4195c9a078bfa0225719586140ea09
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-139.src.rpm
81f4af6730c4ad92b31de1df69f0e535
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-137.src.rpm
2d28b8a51463ff19f9c4b83aa4df4f51
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/7.0/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-170.src.rpm
d944cd23c532c18191d90bd752de5a1f
SuSE-6.4
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/sec1/gpg-1.0.6-138.ppc.rpm
27e1aaa319bf35722a63fa73c2c4a543
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/n1/rsync-2.3.2-137.ppc.rpm
94d0512db52f89f79171c7648255e32d
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/d1/cvs-1.10.7-169.ppc.rpm
f5f9a3a3c2ed93776bbdb747217d3f65
source rpm:
ftp://ftp.suse.de/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/zq1/gpg-1.0.6-138.src.rpm
45dd7ac7bba9e3bf0cc41a4f20d11ed8
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/zq1/rsync-2.3.2-137.src.rpm
993c4e7eb632a43be85a9e17369792cf
ftp://ftp.suse.com/pub/suse/ppc/update/6.4/zq1/cvs-1.10.7-169.src.rpm
867ed44e362dd6fdfb2d0eec249190d6
______________________________________________________________________________
2) Pending vulnerabilities in SuSE Distributions and Workarounds:
- The freeamp packages for the newer products will be available
shortly.
The gpg package for the Intel i386 platform, distribution SuSE Linux 7.3,
will be available shortly.
Update packages for the packages vnc, netscape and the kernel will follow
later this week. Please carefully read the section 2) in the upcoming
SuSE Security Announcements.
______________________________________________________________________________
3) standard appendix: authenticity verification, additional information
- Package authenticity verification:
SuSE update packages are available on many mirror ftp servers all over
the world. While this service is being considered valuable and important
to the free and open source software community, many users wish to be
sure about the origin of the package and its content before installing
the package. There are two verification methods that can be used
independently from each other to prove the authenticity of a downloaded
file or rpm package:
1) md5sums as provided in the (cryptographically signed) announcement.
2) using the internal gpg signatures of the rpm package.
1) execute the command
md5sum
Roman Drahtmueller
2) packages that contain the compression library in their own source distribution. These packages need an individual bugfix. We have prepared update packages for this software that can be downloaded from the locations as shown below.
Shouldn't these packages rather be modified to use the system library
rather then fixing them all individually? I know, this is beyond the
scope of a security bugfix as the latter shouldn't contain feature
changes and this can oft not be done as quickly as needed. But i
think, a package bringing a library on its own, when decent system
libraries are available, this is a quite stupid idea and it is also a
security issue, as we can see with this announcement.
--
Rolf Krahl
2) packages that contain the compression library in their own source distribution. These packages need an individual bugfix. We have prepared update packages for this software that can be downloaded from the locations as shown below.
Shouldn't these packages rather be modified to use the system library rather then fixing them all individually? I know, this is beyond the scope of a security bugfix as the latter shouldn't contain feature changes and this can oft not be done as quickly as needed. But i think, a package bringing a library on its own, when decent system libraries are available, this is a quite stupid idea and it is also a security issue, as we can see with this announcement.
Your approach is obviously correct, and in some cases we even proceed that way. (Since libz is used by so many packages, we began to wonder why some packages still bring their own. Seems like it's "en vogue" to do so...) In some cases though you might not want to mess up because the authors modified the code for optimizations and other adaptions. Prominent example: rsync.
Rolf Krahl
Roman.
--
- -
| Roman Drahtmüller
Roman Drahtmueller
Shouldn't these packages rather be modified to use the system library rather then fixing them all individually? I know, this is beyond the scope of a security bugfix as the latter shouldn't contain feature changes and this can oft not be done as quickly as needed. But i think, a package bringing a library on its own, when decent system libraries are available, this is a quite stupid idea and it is also a security issue, as we can see with this announcement.
Your approach is obviously correct, and in some cases we even proceed that way.
My post was more a spontaneous grumbling in the direction of the packages authors, then a critic on the SuSE team.
In some cases though you might not want to mess up because the authors modified the code for optimizations and other adaptions. Prominent example: rsync.
Then i still wonder why these authors do not simply contribute these
modifcations to the author of the library rather then maintaining
their own version of the library. This would make life easier for
all, including them.
--
Rolf Krahl
[Rolf Krahl]
Then i still wonder why these authors do not simply contribute these modifcations to the author of the library rather then maintaining their own version of the library. This would make life easier for all, including them.
This would probably work in an ideal world, where everybody have oodles of free time for timely responding to all requests, and where everybody is collaborative, nice and understanding to the needs of everybody else. But real life differs. Maintainers might devote much time to the job allowing them to survive, without much ability to predict their free time, be surprised by health problems, get discouraged from interactions with users or other maintainers or even distracted by love affairs, who knows :-). For example, I observed more than once maintainers loosing almost all interest in their own package after some impatient guys decided to publish a release on their side, to address a particular single feature. When the new other maintainers are only interested in that feature, without the vision of the original author or maintainer, the development is likely to stall. Then, various package maintainers depending on the stalled package cannot accept being stalled in turn, and so, despite all their good will, might choose to move on, even if it means split development and some confusion. Please do not misquote me: I'm not necessarily speaking about `zlib'! :-) -- François Pinard http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard
participants (3)
-
pinard＠iro.umontreal.ca -
rolf.krahl＠gmx.net -
Roman Drahtmueller