Op donderdag 27 juli 2006 04:49, schreef Khalid B:
Since Drupal is a) fast moving, b) composed of core and myriad of contribs, c) has a web interface for install/update and not a command line one, it is difficult to have a proper Debian package that preserves the user's data integrity as well as keep them up to date with all the core and contrib they may have.
We are forgetting that a LOT of people (should) not want to keep up to date. Just ask yourselve this question about a system you are not as closed involved in as Drupal: "Am I really interested in the Very Latest Features of phpmyadmin?". My answer is no. If I (would*) use phpmyadmin I want three things: * It must Just Work (bugfree) * It must be secure. * It should meet my requirements (IE do what I need it for) If, in ten months from now a new debian comes available, and features a new PHPmyAdmin branch, i'll be happy, and probably use the new features gladly. But for now, I (would) run the most stable -acc to debian- version. And thatt one has worked fine for me all along: Why go trough all the hassle of New And Improved Features, concepts and all that, when the current system works? Would you really deploy MySQL 5 already? Only to get features you have been doing fine without for ages? We (Drupalleers) seem to forget that people might not be that much interested in our improvements, but want their website to continue running the coming years. And frankly, in my branch/niche/userbase, being middle and small companies with a need for "a website" aka brochureware, this is all people want. People see Drupal as a tool just like we see all other software as a tool. If you were happy with 4.6 by the time you released your site on it, why would you want to go to 4.7? Don't forget that continuation costs a certain price per month/year/week, but that upgrading requires big investments every time. If you have built a Drupal site for €9000 (which meets the requirements of the client) and within four months that client needs to invest another €5000, just to get New Stuff they never asked for in the first place, is IMO wrong. To summarise: There are a lot of valid reasons for a stable, yet oldish, reliable, yet not cutting edge, and know-what-to-expect yet not with the latest Schmupal, release system. The fact a 4.5* debian version is somehow maintained prooves this fact. Bèr * I dont actually use phpmyadmin, on my own debian server. But this was the closest and best example I can find.