<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Please forgive my naivete as I am new to qmail and this list, but hearing a
> statement such as yours, Peter, gives me pause to consider: If there may
> not be future development, am I betting on a dead (or dying) horse?
>
> What is wrong with some of the requests that have been asked for? Granted,
> some of the functionality is available as a patch, but should not some of
> those patches be incorporated into the main code base if doing so would
> make qmail easier to setup, configure, and run without the new qmail
> administrator having to download and install a series of patches that
> affect the core functionality of qmail?
>
> Being new, I may be off base with these questions, but I am just trying to
> get a better understanding of what the future of qmail is. If DJB is no
> longer interested, or able, to continue development of qmail, could he not
> pass the reins to someone else? There seems to be a great pool of talent on
> this list, I'm sure someone would be interested in continuing development.
> (although I am not one who could, due to my pathetic programming skills)
In my experience (which is certainly not as long as others on this
list) DJB never comments as to whether he is going to make another
release. Nor does he comment on what another release would contain,
except via web pages such as
http://cr.yp.to/qmail/future.html
http://cr.yp.to/im2000.html
This does not mean that anything is wrong with qmail. qmail is fine.
Software does not require a steady infusion of new releases. It does
not decay over time.
If you really feel that you need a new qmail release, then the thing
to do is to start a project along the lines of ezmlm-idx. ezmlm-idx
(http://www.ezmlm.org/) is a unified set of patches to apply to DJB's
ezmlm. Similarly, there could be a unified set of patches to apply to
qmail.
Don't bother to wait for DJB to officially bless such an effort before
you start. He might bless it, or he might reject it, but more likely
he will maintain a inscrutable silence.
Don't bother to wait for somebody else to start this project. Most
people, including myself, are satisfied with the set of patches at
http://www.qmail.org/.
Ian
