Notices by Aleksandra Fedorova :fedora: (bookwar@fosstodon.org)

@ITwrx

And I may be need a separate statement:

I don't believe that every upstream developer must become a packaging expert.

I believe that packaging is a job on its own. For some projects you combine roles of developer, tester, doc writer and packager, for some you just can't. And then you ask for help.

But I believe that upstream developer should be aware that there are needs in software development beyond writing the code and pleasing the user.

@kravietz @Conan_Kudo @jakub

@ITwrx

Upstreams should not choose versions of dependencies randomly in their own bubble.

To make deduplication of effort work, there should be awareness in every upstream that they need to align their choices with other upstreams.

The packaging and distributions ecosystem is where different upstreams meet and talk to each other about things like which versions to choose as a base for LTS branches, which versions to choose for shared libraries and so on.

@kravietz @Conan_Kudo @jakub

@inthehands

I think the statement is still correct.

It is indeed "a beautiful aesthetic pursuit with intrinsic value that is not dependent on any kind of applied utility".

The applied utility can be found later, and we will be glad if and when it happens. But it is not the reason *why* we do it. Applied utility is just a nice sideeffect, not a driving force.

Irregular reminder for junior engineers:

You absolutely SHOULD argue with random people on the internet.

People who tell you that flamewars are useless, do it after they spent significant time participating in them.

And yes, generic flamewars indeed *become* useless over time once you learn the main arguments and the rules of the game.

You absolutely should learn those rules though. And no one will teach you that in the university.

Do remember that it is a sparring, not a fight. And enjoy.

On one hand, seeing how many people are impacted by taking down #CentOS 7 repositories and moving them to vault, I wonder whether we should have a different procedure for the EOL...

On the other, seeing how many people are impacted by taking down centos 7 repositories, looks like it was a right move. If people are still surprised and haven't checked what does EOL means for their systems in advance, it means we need this wake-up call.

Yes, it has impacted many people. It is a good thing.

@aral

Fedora starts Accessibility project not to put an accessibility label on the site and declare that the work is done, but to call for people to join the effort and consider contributing to it.

You may choose to support this call, you may choose to ignore it.

But what are you trying to achieve by attacking it?

2/2

@aral

There is no magic wand which would make everything better if someone says something in capslock on social networks. Neither in volunteer projects nor in billion-dollar companies.

Fixing issues requires work. Work on code, work on tests, work on describing issues, work on convincing people that the issues are important, work on figuring out dependencies between underlying problems, work on building roadmaps to fix these problems..

1/

@aral

You really need to stop your crusade.

Yes, Fedora is sponsored by Red Hat. It doesn't change the fact that it is a volunteer-driven project.

Now the whole point of doing Fedora Accessibility effort is to gather issues, collect, categorize them and provide it as a structured feedback to upstream projects like Wayland to help them prioritize and justify work on certain areas.

Your rant attacks the very people who are trying to move the accessibility forward.

How does your PhD help in your daily life?

I use it to hit people in the face, when they tell me that my lack of fundamental education doesn't allow me to see how programming is superior to all other IT and non-IT jobs.

@drewdevault

Please remember, people who react like this to the Code of Conduct conversations, do it out of fear of you.

Some of that fear may be based on the fact that they know they did something wrong.

But most of the time, it is based on the previous experience of dealing with authorities, which act without any considerations of the people involved.

This is not making it easier for you, but deescalating is an art we often have to learn on the job.

Is there a resource where you can upload, share and discover hiking routes in somewhat like wikipedia-style?

I am using Komoot app currently. It is good, but i don't feel like investing my own time and data to a closed paid platform with no ability to export and share the content freely.

The hardest part in writing docs is that you start describing things as is, then you see so many places the "as is" state needs improvement, so you run to fix that before documenting.

And since "as is" state is never perfect, you never finish the doc you have started.

@inthehands

I think we may be talking about the same thing. It is just that for me mathematics is not about _using_ some formalisms. It is about developing the skill which allows you to create and evaluate different formalisms.

https://fosstodon.org/@bookwar/107389047199043428

Where it may differ is that mathematics does not just create the language, it also validates it for correctness.

And it is important too.

When defining a new abstraction you need to recognize when it doesn't make sense.

@doctormo @fuzzychef

@doctormo

It seems everyone perceives this topic with their own lens.

I was going to say "Anyone who wants to create their own abstractions,.. should be required to do basic algebra" - science of abstractions in its purest form.

WIth isomorphism, factor groups and basics of linear spaces. :)

Though as I spend so much time trying to convey the technical message with some visuals nowadays, I would enjoy design course at the Uni.

@inthehands @fuzzychef

@Migueldeicaza

This is a lie.

@maxsteenbergen

@Migueldeicaza

That article is not a lie. It says Red Hat is no longer publishes the sources the way Alma consumed them.

The phrase "gating all its own contributions behind a subscription paywall" is a very different statement.

All RH contributions are public.

Even those RHEL patches, which go to minor-stream branches first and not land in the CentOS Stream directly, _must_ be brought into CentOS Stream before the next minor release of RHEL by the development policy.

@maxsteenbergen

@orowith2os

I, personally, hate when developers _think_ that they don't rely on other people to write, package and ship their software to end users.

Flatpak is a a packaging tool, it can be used in good and bad ways.

I don't think it helps the conversation, when you present flatpak as a way how developers do not need to care about integration, dependencies, community, underlying system or distributing infrastructure.

@orowith2os You are speaking from a position that developer is all-knowing and all-capable entity which has the only authority in any question regarding the software they write and ship.

This is a wrong assumption.

Developers, even those paid senior titles can make dummy mistakes, and can make very bad architectural decisions, or sometimes they just disappear.

Developers can be bad at system engineering or maintenance or support.

It is not an insult, just people are not perfect.

@jwildeboer Not the first time, not the last :)

@bsmall2

(I haven't read the book)

I am a usually cautious about generic claims how rules or hierarchy turns you into a mindless gear in The Machine.

It is not that black and white and, honestly, self-taught independent thinkers are more likely to reinvent the Perpetuum Mobile than to make a breakthrough in String Theory.

But passing tests is indeed a very specific muscle to train. And has nothing to do with reasoning or researching - the skills which we are supposed to look for.

@vaurora