Mate Desktop environment (http://www.mate-desktop.org)
I am writing in support of Mate DE. In less than a year a few people have designed an alternative to Gnome 3. I have been averaging one reconditioned HP Compaq nc6400 laptop per quarter year, four per year. This is one of my contributions to Debian and Linux. I give these out to individuals who do not have a computer and cannot afford one and have very limited computer skills. I use Debian with a Mate DE. The reports back so far from everyone that has received a laptop that they like the way it handles better than Windows or Apple. It has been a simple process until now September 18, 2012. Just as in the past Debian broke OpenOffice and substituted LibreOffice. It was a major effort to undo the damage caused by that action. I have still not completely repaired the damage of lost components to Open Office. Which I have finally reinstalled. You are now allowing OO to live side by side with LO. This is as it should be. But again you have taken a similar action to Mate. It is impossible now to install. This to me is a form of sabotage. I understand that Mate is not totally in line with the philosophy of Debian, but they are getting there. In the mean time I have found Mate very stable and I have not had to repair one laptop. I did receive one question that I told them the problem would repair itself with a reboot. They were afraid to do anything. The reboot did indeed repaired the problem. What better way to create good will for Debian and Linux than to do this service? Yet someone decided that this would not be. There is a difference between endorsing, or not, a program, to breaking it because someone did not like what it was doing. Debian has had this attitude of doing it the Debian way or leave. I have been using Linux off and on since Red Hat 2. It is the same with some of the programs that are available, the only way to use them is to go up into SID. The components to the software always stay in SID. Yet this causes problems with the system that can only be rectified by turning off updates. This is why, I do not allow updates from Debian. I do for Mate and Multimedia. I have been burned too often by Debian. Yet Debian is a very good operating system when this self-rightious attitude is not involved. There has been limited discussions about forking Debian to get away from these problems that make life measurable. It is time for the people who make the decisions at Debian that there is a very strong cause and effect relationship between what you do and how well the community will operate. Will it work smoothly or be frustratingly broken with lost hours trying to repair a bad decision at Debian. By adding problems that are not technical but solely the opinion of one or two or even a handful of people is destructive. I have always encouraged people to financially help with a few dollars to free programs. Again this year I do not encourage financial support for Debian. Last year you lost this endorsement because of Open Office. This year because of Mate. I believe it is time for you and your peers to decide to make sound decisions or to continue as you have done in the past. I hope you choose to move forward with making responsible decisions understanding that what you think is unimportant may be totally destructive to a portion of the community. So do you fix this problem with Mate, or do talks continue about forking off of Debian? A position I do not currently hold. In fact I would encourage talks for combining the many Linux distribution with a solid kernel format so that the differences become that of enhancements for specific tasks, based upon a single format. This will mean that for Linux only one program style will need to be developed. Thus leaving to the differences in kernel modules the process for making the many distributions of Linux. As an example of how I see things, even though I deplored your stunt with OO and LO, I would be just as angry if you now broke LO even though I will not use it because of the method that it was forced upon me. And yes, OO is still a better suite than LO. Apache has stepped up and made the needed changes. It is now time for you and your associates to make some decisions. Do you force another splinter in the Linux community or do you work to bring together the community? I have quite a few years on many of the people in the computer industry. I see many dedicate individuals trying hard to do good work. What I see lacking in this industry is the understanding that comes from many years of living. I have spent 42+ years as licensed broadcast engineer and have literally grew up professionally with the computer industry. I like seeing the young people coming in to the ranks, it is disappointing that the knowledge from experienced individuals is not used often enough. This action is such an example. I enjoy the new frontiers, just think where we would be if we took the egos out of the equation and instead of saying it must be done my way, that if equal processes work, we do it all ways. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-devel-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org Archive: http://lists.debian.org/505a07c3.50...@gmail.com