On Fri, Apr 09, 2004 at 12:27:02PM -0700, Kastus wrote:
On Fri, Apr 09, 2004 at 01:26:48AM +0200, Carlos E. R. wrote:
Even a simple page listing every package for a certain distribution that has issues, and pointing to the solution (or update) would be sufficient. The point is, that as YOU knows what is installed, it could generate a report automatically.
Do files in update/9.0/patches directory on your favorite mirror qualify for this role?
No, at least not for the example at hand, which is xntp-4.1.1-291. At <ftp://mirrors.usc.edu/pub/linux/distributions/suse/i386/update/9.0/patches/>, there is nothing about xntp.
Or better look at *.info files in update/9.0/rpm/i586 directory.
And there is nothing about xntp it at <ftp://mirrors.usc.edu/pub/linux/distributions/suse/i386/update/9.0/rpm/i586/>, either.
Each updated rpm is accompanied by .info file with a short description what was changed/fixed/etc.
That's nice, but it doesn't help for packages that have known issues for which SuSE chooses not to release an official update.
SUSE is not concealing any information.
Actually, they are. In regards to my question about where to view SuSE's bug tracking database, Philipp Thomas of SuSE, at 2004-04-08 00:35:39 +0200, stated ``You can't, it's not open to the public.'' They have no obligation, stated or implied, to make available such information, but it would be extremely useful to users of SuSE Linux.
It's just a matter of looking in the right place.
And again, that ``place'' is: some combination of mailing list archives, the Web, and maybe SuSE's support database. But there is no definitive way to answer the question ``is SuSE aware of any problems with their package foo-1.0.0-13'' or even ``is SuSE aware of any problems with any version of their package foo''. This is really inexcusable. Quality package management is an afterthought for many home/desktop users, especially those accustomed to Windows' installers' ``best effort which may not be good at all'' history, but it's absolutely essential for business use. The fact that bug tracking information for official SuSE packages is unavailable, even to paid users of ``SuSE Professional'', makes it very hard for me to recommend this distribution for use in a production environment. SuSE should look to Debian or the various BSDs for examples of quality packaging and package management. -- Phil Mocek