[maemo-developers] Ask for removal of some packages from Extras Fremantle repository

[From: Marius Vollmer]

"ext Luarvique L. Luarvique" <luarvique at gmail.com> writes:

> This whole talk about "any repository but Extras is unsafe and evil"
> is mostly bullshit, and I think most users are smart enough to know
> it.

It might be mostly bullshit, but not entirely.  If we teach people that
it is normal to go hunting for alternative repositories, we
substantially increase the risk that they run into unsafe and evil ones.

The difference is between one or maybe three well known sources, and
uncounted mostly unknown sources.  You can have a million security
frameworks on your device, but as long as you go and install stuff
'randomly' from the Internet, you are running a high risk.

One of the first things that you learn when you grow up is that it is
not a good idea to put everything into your mouth that you find on the
ground.


While nobody should be forced to funnel his packages through the few
well known repositories, our users should more or less demand to find
all the good stuff in them, because they know that these repositories
are well-maintained and backed by a community: packages are not
abandoned, and they can expect them to be updated when necessary.

Thus, we should market the advantages of a centralized repository to our
users (down to making adding new repositories with .install files more
scary, but still fair), and work to reduce repository fragmentation by
seeking out the 'rogue' ones and copying their packages into ours, if
legal, and subject to the same QA as other packages, of course.

This might also be a good opportunity for some of us to eat our own dog
food.  If would be great if the people who drive the maemo.org QA
process would back this up by maintaining a good number of packages
themselves.  (Maybe they do, I really don't know.)