Re: a request for the 8.1.7 and 8.2.2 tarballs and the good reasons why - Mailing list pgsql-general

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

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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
>
>
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--
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>          http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                               http://www.enterprisedb.com

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