Re: [BLACKBOX] The official position of the Russian OberonCore team about BlackBox Support

From: [at]} <Wojtek>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 12:40:09 -0400

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> People use GNU/Linux systems because they follow "often changes, often
> releases" scheme.

I strongly disagree that it is a good method. In my experience it is
terrible.

Just to give an example: I adopted Analog Device Linux release 2.6.28 in
2009. It turns out that certain features were broken in that release.
(Multicore does not work.) So I should upgrade. But certain other features
were removed from later releases. (Namely, the Ethernet AX88180 driver.)
So I am sticking to the 2009 release that I customized for my board that
is using AX88180. I wrote extensive documentation for the customers how to
use these Linux sources, how to compile, and which file is where in the
source tree.

Recently the embedded Linux community moved to the "buildroot"
environment. It is absolutely, completely different from the previous one.
The directories are different, the config files are in other places.
Everything has been moved around. My current documents became completely
useless. I will have to redo all my manuals from scratch, what is a month
of work at least. What even worse, the Linux books describe kernel 2.6.x,
while the buildroot uses kernel 3.x.x. So not only my documents are
obsolete, but all the books that I have. And updated books have not been
published yet.

Given all the above, I am sticking with the sources from four years ago
and I am delaying the transition to new sources. The fact that GNU/Linux
have released several times since 2009 is of no relevance.

My observations can be summarized as follows. The GNU/Linux way is only
good for those folks who made GNU/Linux their way of life and their
religion. Those folks are doing nothing in their life but following the
recent greatest patches. They move files from place to place, change the
file names, and they constantly change system interfaces. Those folks
write books that are obsolete even before the books reach the bookstores.
I have seen examples where a fresh book described subsystems that have
been removed before the book was printed.

If you are doing nothing else in your life but reading the Linux kernel
mailing lists, then "often changes, often releases" scheme is for you. But
if the computer is a tool rather than a substitute for the God, then
OberonCore way is the right attitude.

Thank you,
Wojtek

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Received on Fri Aug 23 2013 - 18:40:09 UTC