[SOLVED] Mr. Volkerding please release 15.0 as soon as possible even sooner

Didier Spaier · 11-24-2021, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windu

I go with the suspicion voiced earlier in this thread or maybe another, that Patrick is silently working on his final Slackware release - ever. The guy is old and probably craves a pensioner's life.

"This guy" (sic) is born on 20 October 1966 according to his profile on LQ
I am born on 01 February 1949 and still maintain a Slackware derivative. From this I deduct that:

You can maintain a Linux distribution even if you are a pensioner, as I do.
Providing his health allows it (I wish so for him) he can easily run Slackware during at least 17 years.

bassmadrigal · 11-24-2021, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windu

I do not agree. Reasoning along your line means there will never be a stable release again. No release is 100% perfect, and the "fixes" are so minimal they absolutely do not warrant a longer wait. You people can keep running -current and be happy with forever progress. But some people out there run internet-facing services that require (1) a stable OS without daily updates and (2) a modern OS with libraries that allow modern software to compile and run. I go with the suspicion voiced earlier in this thread or maybe another, that Patrick is silently working on his final Slackware release - ever.

The first "fixes" for Slackware's 14.2 packages (that don't include security fixes, since as I said above, aren't typically due to Slackware's packaging or implementation) didn't happen for almost 2 months after release (14.2 was released 30 JUN 2016). See the red entries in this ChangeLog entry:

Code:

Tue Aug 23 19:45:33 UTC 2016
patches/packages/gnupg-1.4.21-x86_64-1_slack14.2.txz:  Upgraded.
  Fix critical security bug in the RNG [CVE-2016-6313].  An attacker who
  obtains 580 bytes from the standard RNG can trivially predict the next
  20 bytes of output.  (This is according to the NEWS file included in the
  source.  According to the annoucement linked below, an attacker who obtains
  4640 bits from the RNG can trivially predict the next 160 bits of output.)
  Problem detected by Felix Doerre and Vladimir Klebanov, KIT.
  For more information, see:
    https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2016q3/000395.html
    http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-6313
  (* Security fix *)
patches/packages/glib2-2.46.2-x86_64-3_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Applied upstream patch to fix a use-before-allocate bug in libgio.  Without
  this fix, Thunar will crash if $HOME is on an NFS volume.
  Thanks to Jonathan Woithe.
patches/packages/libgcrypt-1.7.3-x86_64-1_slack14.2.txz:  Upgraded.
  Fix critical security bug in the RNG [CVE-2016-6313].  An attacker who
  obtains 580 bytes from the standard RNG can trivially predict the next
  20 bytes of output.  (This is according to the NEWS file included in the
  source.  According to the annoucement linked below, an attacker who obtains
  4640 bits from the RNG can trivially predict the next 160 bits of output.)
  Problem detected by Felix Doerre and Vladimir Klebanov, KIT.
  For more information, see:
    https://lists.gnupg.org/pipermail/gnupg-announce/2016q3/000395.html
    http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-6313
  (* Security fix *)
patches/packages/linux-4.4.19/*:  Upgraded.
  A flaw was found in the implementation of the Linux kernels handling of
  networking challenge ack where an attacker is able to determine the shared
  counter.  This may allow an attacker located on different subnet to inject
  or take over a TCP connection between a server and client without having to
  be a traditional Man In the Middle (MITM) style attack.
  Be sure to upgrade your initrd after upgrading the kernel packages.
  If you use lilo to boot your machine, be sure lilo.conf points to the correct
  kernel and initrd and run lilo as root to update the bootloader.
  If you use elilo to boot your machine, you should run eliloconfig to copy the
  kernel and initrd to the EFI System Partition.
  For more information, see:
    http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2016-5389
  (* Security fix *)
patches/packages/screen-4.4.0-x86_64-2_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Reverted a change to /etc/screenrc.new that prevented the console from being
  cleared when a screen session was detached.  Thanks to Stuart Winter.
patches/packages/stunnel-5.35-x86_64-2_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Fixed incorrect config file name in generate-stunnel-key.sh.
  Thanks to Ebben Aries.

Then we had another fix a few weeks later:

Code:

Mon Sep 12 18:39:03 UTC 2016
patches/packages/sdl-1.2.15-x86_64-5_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Fixed a regression that broke MOD support.  Thanks to B Watson.

Then we went several more months before another fix:

Code:

Thu Dec  1 08:49:20 UTC 2016
patches/packages/intltool-0.51.0-x86_64-3_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Added a patch to fix issues when $(builddir) != $(srcdir).  This avoids
  possible build failures when intltool is used with automake >= 1.15.
  Thanks to Willy Sudiarto Raharjo.

Pat has a solid track record for releasing stable versions that are actually stable. Let him do his proper prep work to get 15.0 as rock solid as possible on release day. We've got progress towards that with RC2 with an announcement that it's a much harder freeze than what happened with RC1. We're close. Let's not trip right before the finish line after doing a full marathon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windu

The guy is old and probably craves a pensioner's life.

He's only 55. While I don't doubt that anyone who's worked an adult life would crave a "pensioner's life", however, he's still quite far off of the age where people typically retire. In fact, we've seen with this cycle that he's not even slowing down on his work. It's increased substantially from previous releases. He's averaged 12.7 package updates per day, compared to just 4.7 with 14.2's development cycle (for just the 64bit release, you can double it if you want to count both 32bit and 64bit releases).

Even if we remove the "rebuilt" packages, since there's been a few rebuilds, that's still 8.25 package updates per day. He's pretty much doubled his output of packages from 14.2's development cycle.

You can check that with the following command (you can remove the "-e Rebuilt\\." portion if you don't want to count that), changing the ChangeLog.txt location to where it's saved on your computer:

Code:

echo $(grep -e Upgraded\\. -e Updated\\. -e Added\\. -e Removed\\. -e Rebuilt\\. /share/gothrough/slackware-mirrors/slackware64-current/ChangeLog.txt | wc -l) / $(( (($(date '+%s') - $(date -d "$(grep -a1 "+--" /share/gothrough/slackware-mirrors/slackware64-current/ChangeLog.txt | tail -n1)" '+%s') ) / (60*60*24)) )) | bc -l | xargs printf "%.2f packages per day\n"

The 14.2 amount can be calculated using this command:

Code:

echo $(grep -e Upgraded\\. -e Updated\\. -e Added\\. -e Removed\\. -e Rebuilt\\. /share/gothrough/slackware-mirrors/slackware64-14.2/ChangeLog.txt | wc -l) / $(( (($(date -d "$(grep -B1 "14.2 x86_64" /share/gothrough/slackware-mirrors/slackware64-14.2/ChangeLog.txt | head -n1)" '+%s') - $(date -d "$(grep -A1 "+--" /share/gothrough/slackware-mirrors/slackware64-14.2/ChangeLog.txt | tail -n1)" '+%s') ) / (60*60*24)) )) | bc -l | xargs printf "%.2f packages per day\n"

Hopefully Pat still has many more years of Slackware development in him. I don't want to find something else to use or hope that whoever takes it over takes good care of it...

rkelsen · 11-24-2021, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier

I am born on 01 February 1949 and still maintain a Slackware derivative.

Wow. You're the same age as my mum, but she calls me in a panic when all the words are appearing in capital letters on her screen and she doesn't know why... She used computers for the majority of her working career.

Full respect to you Sir!

LuckyCyborg · 11-24-2021, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windu

I do not agree. Reasoning along your line means there will never be a stable release again. No release is 100% perfect, and the "fixes" are so minimal they absolutely do not warrant a longer wait. You people can keep running -current and be happy with forever progress. But some people out there run internet-facing services that require (1) a stable OS without daily updates and (2) a modern OS with libraries that allow modern software to compile and run. I go with the suspicion voiced earlier in this thread or maybe another, that Patrick is silently working on his final Slackware release - ever. The guy is old and probably craves a pensioner's life.

Permit me to doubt that your suspicion is true...

As someone who followed the Slackware{,64}-current since the last stable release, I believe that this development cycle was a process of retooling the distribution just like a battleship is done.

Did you seen ever how they retool[1] a battleship, at least on National Geographic channel? They pull that huge ship out from the waters and once it arrives on the ground, it's dismantled on pieces to be latter put all together again.

Same thing happened with Slackware on this -current - it was rebuilt starting with every and each nut and bolt. In my humble opinion, the Slackware 15.0 will be totally different as inner work of previous release.

What was reason for retooling Slackware and drastically modernize it? Only our BDFL and his closer friends knows why precisely.

But there's LinuxPAM, Kerberos, Wayland and a myriad of other new smaller or greater features. And let's do not forget that even the methods of handling the development changed drastically - there was no such things like mass-rebuilds and a build-farm until when Slackware 14.2 was released.

Now this huge battleship retooling is almost done - they now add the main weapons and their firing systems.

So, let's have a bit of patience to see this USS Slackware 15.0 on it's maiden voyage which will start soon, after 5 years of staying above the ground.

[1] Not sure if this term of "retooling" is proper in English, I apologize in advance and I hope you got the idea.

Gerard Lally · 11-24-2021, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyCyborg

[1] Not sure if this therm of "retooling" is proper in English, I apologize in advance and I hope you got the idea.

Retooling is fine, but as far as the ship analogy goes, refurbishment is probably more commonly used, and so is overhaul. You could say a top to bottom or nuts and bolts overhaul, or you could say a complete refurbishment.

andrew.46 · 11-24-2021, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windu

The guy is old and probably craves a pensioner's life.

As somebody who has retired I can tell you that you have much to learn about what happens in your older years

.

cwizardone · 11-24-2021, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerard Lally

Retooling is fine, but as far as the ship analogy goes, refurbishment is probably more commonly used, and so is overhaul. You could say a top to bottom or nuts and bolts overhaul, or you could say a complete refurbishment.

In the world of jet aircraft that is called a "D Check." They remove the engines and strip the plane down to the "bare skin" to check for flaws, inside and out. The engines are overhauled and whatever else that is worn or broken is fixed or replaced. They literally rebuild the plane. Any scheduled upgrades, e.g., to the avionics, are also done at that time.

Didier Spaier · 11-24-2021, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew.46

As somebody who has retired I can tell you that you have much to learn about what happens in your older years

.

And you are much eager to learn (in my case, at least. Maybe not as much as my 4 yo grandson, but close).

cwizardone · 11-24-2021, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andrew.46

As somebody who has retired I can tell you that you have much to learn about what happens in your older years

.

"Golden years" my a**!!!

enorbet · 11-24-2021, 05:08 PM

Just FTR PV is only 3 years older than Linus Torvalds and both of them are still wet behind the ears from my POV considering I started using Linux 20+ years ago when I (ne: 10/20/1946) was Patrick's age today.

SCerovec · 11-24-2021, 05:57 PM

Are we beard measuring now?

The neck-beard garden party of Slackware?

I feel like a toddler again (i'm from "recent" '73 vintage)

enorbet · 11-24-2021, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SCerovec

Are we beard measuring now?

The neck-beard garden party of Slackware?

I feel like a toddler again (i'm from "recent" '73 vintage)

Heheh. I could've mentioned Douglas McIlroy, author of Unix Philosophy, born in 1932 but the latest photo I see of him at 89 shows him clean-shaven

Things aren't good or bad just because they are new or ancient. They are good or bad based on performance. PV performs at a demonstrably high level and likely will for a few decades more if he remembers to care for his health as much as his work.

igadoter · 11-25-2021, 06:16 AM

I have bad feelings we again stuck for another couple of months. But weather is shinny today here. I am much more optimist when sun is great. Perhaps PV feels comfortable with this. Having such great support of people here essentially wiling to wait forever. I mean "until is done".

So maybe let us create a poll. How many months I am willing to wait to loose my patients?

Code:

0
3
6
9
forever

You already know my vote: 0.

babam · 11-25-2021, 07:48 AM

Forever

FTIO · 11-25-2021, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igadoter

I have bad feelings we again stuck for another couple of months. But weather is shinny today here. I am much more optimist when sun is great. Perhaps PV feels comfortable with this. Having such great support of people here essentially wiling to wait forever. I mean "until is done".

So maybe let us create a poll. How many months I am willing to wait to loose my patients?

Code:

0
3
6
9
forever

You already know my vote: 0.

Why do you continue to do nothing but complain and complain and complain? Why don't you *very simply* go find another distro that suits whatever it is you're wanting/needing right this absolute moment (so it seems!)? That way all the energy you use to keep coming here to complain that you're 'out of patience' will only go into learning your new, all shiny distro that isn't Slackware. I mean is there honestly a need to keep telling the world that you're tired of waiting? I'll probably get another 'infraction' for this post, me being so mean and truthful and all, but, well, someone needed to say it and I'll take the bullet for the gang.