Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Arch Cache & cached archives

[James Blackwell]

Tom Lord:
> Have you noticed, incidently, that free software and (shudder) "open
> source" browswers make greater and greater progress in the market the
> more they (fairly recently) concentrate on slimming down?

I've seen quite the opposite, myself. As free software has grown, it has
done so by adding features. If you compare mozilla's features over the
last year with the number of mozilla's usage growth over the last year,
I believe you'll find a one to one relationship.  Its by adding in
popular features like ad blocking, tabbing, calendaring, theming, etc
that made mozilla popular.

I see the same behavior with all other free software projects.
Debian, Postgresql, gnome and kde and X (take your choice on which one)
have all grown their userbases as they've added features.

But there *is* a difference between today and the late nineties. In the
old days, features were added haphazardly without any sort of regard to
whether or not they served any purpose or provided any actual benefit.
So long as it filled a bulletpoint, that was good enough. These days,
features are added with consideration of how useful the feature will be
to the common case.

Aaron's patch is a great example of the new way. This is a feature that
does more for people, but does it in a simpler, more creative way.
People will get better arch behavior with a lower learning curve. What's
more, he's come up with a way to pull it off without complicating the 
codebase.

I only glanced over the rest of your email. You'll have to do better
at communicating effectively if you want me to spend time on it.


-- 
James Blackwell          Try something fun: For the next 24 hours, give
Smile more!              each person you meet a compliment!

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