LSB: OdyX m'a tuer

or… Why I tried to kill the LSB






https://deb.li/lsbkickban

  • /home : User home directories
  • /root : Home directory for the root user
  • /mnt : Mount point for a temporarily mounted filesystem
  • /srv : Data for services provided by this system
  • /opt : Add-on application software packages

lsb-base popcon graph

On other systems…

On Debian Wheezy !

## Time for first compromises * Qt3 was not released in Wheezy, but is still mandatory for LSB 4.1! > From its 4.1+Debian4+ version on, `lsb-desktop` doesn't depend on Qt3 anymore. > This is an **explicit and Debian-specific** derogation from the LSB 4.1 > specification. > > Qt3 is superseeded by Qt4 since 2005 and has been considered "end of life" > since July 2007 by their upstream developers (Trolltech, then Nokia). Its > support is also marked deprecated in the LSB specification since its 3.2 > version (Jan 2008). As such, it is going to be removed from Debian soon.

For stretch

In buster

The LSB is long dead

Despite good intentions, it just didn't survive reality.

  • … applications
    • FLOSS applications are not distributed this way:
      • PPA's
      • snaps, flatpak, AppImage, …
      • wget -O … | sudo sh
    • systemd is now reality
    • Containers are now reality
  • … distributions
    • The standard is what is in production, not the inverse.
    • The standardization process for the LSB has always been way too slow (see Qt3).
    • Binary compatibility is a chimera! (But… see Ubuntu-on-Windows!).
    • Corporate-backed distros have a direct interest to keep their clients captive (PPAs, RedHat-certified, etc)

Debian does not need the LSB

  • Debian's role in the wide FLOSS ecosystem is established.
  • Ubuntu, with it's PPAs, have vastly democratized Debian packaging.
  • deb & rpm worlds cohabit or circumvent.

Some closing thoughts

Giving up on LSB

  • is a way to push everyone to package for Debian directly;
  • but that's our view of the world!

We need to be supportive of the modern ways that are worked on to ship software to our users

  • LSB is not such a modern way.
  • But we are not bringing the Debian magic to vast ecosystems: npm, pip, …

Debian is not about dpkg or apt

Debian is about crafting the best technical arrangement to ship the free software that satisfies our criteria as widely as possible.

Merci de votre attention !

© 2017 - Didier 'OdyX' Raboud

odyx@debian.org