Re: Requiring systemd for the gnome-settings-daemon power plugin

[Alberto Ruiz <aruiz gnome org>]

2012/10/24 Bastien Nocera <hadess hadess net>

Talking more doesn't automatically mean that you're taking the right
decision.

 

"Only a Sith deals in absolutes!" -- Obi Wan Kenobi

Seriously though, "the right decision" might mean different things to different people, there is no absolute ¨right decision¨, there may be overlooked implications to these decisions, and there may be unwanted consequences. And what would be great for some it could be a nightmare for others. Let's not forget that we are part of an ecosystem, and even though I see value on taking bold steps to help shape the stack (systemd widespread adoption is something I personally support) the way in what we do it is certainly important.

I don't think we should pursue the goal of making *everybody* happy but I am certainly not comfortable to this way of dealing with this sort of changes, the problem as I see it is that you have made the decision on your own (or rather, it's easy to think so), even though it affects a lot of people (distro developers and those distro's users) and no matter what input you've gotten you have not acknowledge that those points of view as valid concerns. You are giving no constructive alternatives to the very people consuming the software you are maintaining. Which is specially annoying when you justify the decision on maintainership burden and people is stepping up to help (I have yet not seen you stating that if someone helps, you'll be open to reconsider or help with alternatives).

Sometimes it's hard to point out these conflicts with maintainers, not everybody steps up to help and at the same time some of us don't want to alienate people doing the job. But we create GNOME in an ecosystem and seeking consensus is key if we want to nurture a vibrant community.

As Colin has pointed out, this is not saying that you are wrong with moving fully to systemd rather than discussing how and when do we get there.

Just my two cents.

-- 
Cheers,
Alberto Ruiz