Re: GuixSD on arm

[Jookia <166291@gmail.com>]

On Tue, Jul 05, 2016 at 10:23:07AM +0200, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> Howdy Jookia,

Thanks for your reply! I just want to follow up to elaborate on a few things:

> Jookia <166291@gmail.com> skribis:
> 
> > - Patches would get lost regularly.
> 
> Lack of responsiveness is terrible, but I think it’s easy to complain
> about it until one gets involved in patch reviews.
> 
> Also, some reviews are more difficult than other: adding support for
> another bootloader is not as simple as upgrading a package.

I don't want to seem like I'm criticising you or the developers over this,
especially since I do understand why things are this way. But the experience
from things being this way is a pain point for me at least, and there doesn't
seem to be any clear solutions yet. It's a bit annoying for things to move
slowly, but it's demotivating for things to come to a stop.

> > - GNUness over pragmatism.
> >
> > The main issue I had with doing an ARM port is the bootloader, and this is
> > because everyone I spoke to except Ludovic seemed to be hesitant towards using a
> > bootloader other than GRUB.
> 
> I wrote repeatedly that using U-Boot is fine, especially if GRUB doesn’t
> work on this platform.

I know that's your stance on it, but there's multiple maintainers on Guix and
multiple people to talk about the issue, especially if I need help or review on
code. It's unsettling emotionally to see different people, especially authority
figures who work with the code and decide what's useful or not, giving mixed
answers as to what direction things should be taken. Implementing something that
only one developer approves of makes me question if it really is the right
approach or worth people's time.

> > I have a distinct feeling this is due to a bias in building "the GNU system"
> > rather than building a fully free Guix-based system.
> 
> There is this bias, which makes a difference from most other distros.  I
> don’t think I/we are blind though: when GNU lacks the right piece of
> software, using another free software package is the right thing to do.

I'm glad to hear that.

> 
> > This experience has put me off of Guix, GNU and free software development.
> 
> I think you’re throwing the baby with the bathwater.

Me too, but this isn't really as much as a conscious decision as an emotional
reaction to what I've felt and perceived. I'm sure eventually it'll get better.

> Thanks for your feedback,
> Ludo’.

I'm sorry for the negativity,
Jookia.