Re: a request for the 8.1.7 and 8.2.2 tarballs and the good reasons why

The 8.2.2 source code is coming back in 1-2 days once everyone knows
they should upgrade to 8.2.3.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

rob_spellberg wrote:
> [ if this belongs on another list, such as -advocacy, i apologize. ]
>
> dear sir or madam ---
>
> permit me to submit a plan which, imho,
> will transform the recent lemon into lemonade.
>
> we all know the famous motto,
> "there is no such thing as a total failure.
> it can always serve as a negative example."
>
> on monday, starting with the oldest first,
> i secured the 7.3.18, 7.4.16 and 8.0.11 tarballs before being interrupted
> [ i have since downloaded 8.0.12, 8.1.8 and 8.2.3 ].
> returning late yesterday,
> i found my plan to obtain the remaining two tarballs thwarted.
> this didn't bother me at the time,
> as they wouldn't have been useful to me in the usual sense.
> however,
> overnight,
> i thought of a way in which they --can-- be useful, in an atypical way,
> and,
> in the process, make the entire organization look good - really, really good.
>
> consider two markets: students and capitalists.
>
> this summer,
> i am launching an education entity for the purpose of
> teaching ambitious, precocious, motivated teen_agers
> real programming
> based on real computer science [ a subset of the ieee_cs & acm curriculum ]
> using a real language [ c, oop comes later ]
> on a real os [ freebsd, perhaps openbsd later ]
> culminating in the integration of
> real open_source subassemblies [ e. g., postgresql ]
> into their applications.
> [ i am also going to teach them money_management, among other things. ]
> according to mckusick,
> in his "design and implementation of freebsd",
> at the end of chapter one,
> this is the age range at which typical freebsd committers started.
> if i can show my students that
> real, seriously major, people,
> working on a real, seriously major, project,
> that is used by real, seriously major, organizations,
> can make a mistake,
> it will do wonders for their self_confidence.
>
> on the other hand,
> there are some chamber_of_commerce people i know who like to ask,
> "how good can it be if
> it's a bunch of volunteers who
> give it away for free?".
> i think that
> being able to show that errors, when discovered, are fixed promptly
> is an excellent marketing point,
> considering the price charged for the service.
> i can write up a quick_&_dirty very_simple application to demonstrate the point.
> i can quote from some of the emails i read today to
> show the professionalism of the people who addressed the issue
> [ if intellectual property is an issue,
> i can point people to the archives instead
> ].
>
> the common point is this:
> we are all human, so mistakes will happen.
> when they do, admit it, apologize and fix it.
>
> in this spirit, i propose two plans:
>
> a] i think that the 8.1.7 and 8.2.2 directories
> should be restored to /pub/source.
> i would add a brief, one_off README [ perhaps named README_FIRST ? ]
> that describes the bug and
> warns not to use the version in a non_demonstration situation.
> i think this is the proper action because,
> when new versions are released, typically for security reasons,
> we are advised to upgrade asap,
> yet the prior versions remain available, none_the_less.
> in addition, the time_stamps will demonstrate the rapidity of repair.
> lastly, there is the argument of historical completeness.
>
> b] if, for some reason, this is not possible,
> perhaps a reader of this post has copies on an ftp server
> to which i may log_in anonymously or some such.
> while beggars can't be choosers,
> i seek the complete 8.1.7 and 8.2.2 bzip2 versions, if possible;
> of course, gzip also works.
> oh, yes; the md5's would be nice, also.
> all i can promise at this time is to
> name you publicly [ with your permission ] and
> say very nice things about you,
> as i perform the above_described demonstration.
> i am subscribed to -general.
>
> kudos to everyone involved.
> you may not think you did anything special because, to you, this is normal.
> however,
> so many people just don't expect anything good to happen anymore
> because there are far too many people in this world who just don't give a damn.
>
> thank you.
>
> rob spellberg
> woodstock, illinois
>
>
> ---------------------------(end of broadcast)---------------------------
> TIP 4: Have you searched our list archives?
>
> http://archives.postgresql.org/

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://www.enterprisedb.com

+ If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +