Canonical to develop its own package manager

[NickStone]

Ubuntu strikes out on its own again. Interesting, seems that Ubuntu (Canonical) wants to move away from its base (Debian).

[whatthefunk]

Yet another project for Canonical to do halfway. I wish they'd finish something for once...

[NickStone]

I didn't know Canonical have abandoned all its own projects like Mir, Unity, Ubuntu Phone. I thought they were still in development?

[SteveRiley]

Sheesh, what next? Their own kernel?

[NickStone]

Sheesh, what next? Their own kernel?

Maybe thats why they've removed the words GNU and Linux from their website!

Mind you, one company that does need to develop a new kernel is Microsoft.

[claydoh]

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ub...ay/037074.html

Reading this, it sure seems a bit overblown in the blogosphere, if you ask me.

/me yawns and goes to bed.

[oshunluvr]

Is it just me or is it time to start considering other alternatives?

No offense to SABDFL, but I'm not going to tow his line any more than that other big-headed butthole, Gates.

OK, so that was a bit offensive, but Mark can afford the therapy to get over it.

Seriously - First Mir now a new (no doubt proprietary) packing system?

Time to d/l some ISOs in search of my new distro.

[whatthefunk]

I didn't know Canonical have abandoned all its own projects like Mir, Unity, Ubuntu Phone. I thought they were still in development?

They havent been abandoned, theyre all half way done. Just like Ubuntu TV. Ubuntu for Android has been abandoned, which is weird because that was the one thing out of all of them that was original.

[dmeyer]

[Warning: Long rant incoming.]

You guys do know that KDE has it's own package format that is incompatible with other DEs (Bad example I know)? I see this package format being target at smallish 3rd party stuff such as DE customizations, scopes, lenses, themes etc. I think large applications will continue to be .deb based. Maybe in time they will move entirely to their own format.

Even if it were a new format for the entire system its not that bad. Did you know that openSUSE, Fedora, Debian, Arch, Slackware, Gentoo, all have packages that don't work on each other. I really don't have a issue with a new packaging format, we have so many already. Both major formats (rpm and deb) have pros and cons. I feel that delta rpms, xz compression, multiple versions of the same package, and a host of things give rpms a distinct advantage over debs but at the same time, rpms have shortcomings too. Right now, on technical merit I think rpm is probably a bit ahead but I don't feel either format is the best we can do. Maybe a new format designed for the future instead of just extending legacy stuff is the way forward. Packaging things at the moment isn't too difficult but it can be tricky sometimes, especially for new developers. Imagine, a nice clean python app (hopefully with a QT frontend) which makes packaging as easy as drag drop and enter.

Am I upset Canonical is reinventing the wheel instead of doing something with upstream? Yes. Do I blame them? No. Seriously, have you ever met the Debian community? It's one of the most stuck up, snobbish Linux communities out there. They always know better and are never willing to accept the merits of other views. I know its a huge generalization, but this is an experience I've had repeatedly.

I'm usually one of the first people to pull out my pitchfork but I am starting to understand where Canonical are coming from. They have a vision, a vision they are actively pursuing and throwing a ton of money at. Linux has been failing at getting serious market traction and now that somebody is doing something about it we get outraged. What we were doing wasn't working so Canonical is doing something different. Sure Canonical has done some things to alienate the community (lack of consultation for one) but they are doing some innovative things. First OS to have proper web apps integrated. First major distro to offer a proper app store. First distro to bring out a touch friendly DE. First distro to run on a host android devices. First distro to get widespread public recognition. So yeah, they are doing their own thing, but who can blame them? Upstream is a pain and established ideas and methods aren't working so maybe forging down your own path is the best route.

Now, having defended Canonical/Ubuntu, I must level some criticism. Mir! I mean why? I don't even know where to start but what I will say is, this is the only time in recent memory that I feel Canonical doing its own thing was outright idiotic. Furthermore, when will we finally get to see some products on the market. Canonical/Ubuntu have a great vision but they are too slow at manifesting it. The smartphone race is essentially over, the tablet situation is starting to become clear. If they don't get products out soon they will be hopelessly too late to the game.

tl;dr Complain all we want, at least they are doing something.

P.S. Until Kubuntu is directed, jumping shipping might be premature unless its for ideological reasons. If you must jump ship, try openSUSE 12.3, its a great distro but its community/forums aren't as good as the Kubuntu ones.

[dibl]

Interesting, seems that Ubuntu (Canonical) wants to move away from its base (Debian).

Ubuntu broke binary compatibility with Debian long ago. While it remains true that some Ubuntu .deb packages can be installed successfully and run on Debian systems, and vice versa, it is strictly the luck of the draw -- they are not in fact binary compatible and many won't run correctly, or will cause other trouble on the "foreign" OS.

[claydoh]

[Warning: Long rant coming

+1



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