[Owncloud] Getting owncloud-client in Debian

[MJ Ray]

Jan-Christoph Borchardt <hey at jancborchardt.net>
> The simple problem here is that when we put it in Debian, once it’s
> tested and all it will be outdated. It’s much better for people to
> just get the latest release from the website, which has the latest
> features and bugfixes. And it also keeps our sanity because we don’t
> need to backport everything or manage issues for old versions.

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  Some of
those issues from old versions are still issues in 4.5 and still
should be fixed, not just dismissed unchecked because they were
discovered in 4.0 first.  This is a disagreement I remember having
with kde developers over a decade ago, so I suspect I may be whistling
in the wind here.

Some may feel that it's much better to get the latest release from the
website, but others will want prefer the peer-reviewed release that is
integrated with their distribution.

backports.debian.org is a good compromise solution, which could offer
later versions with some peer review and integration, so I don't think
it should be dismissed as lightly as above.

> As Georg said:
> 
> > Am 29.10.2012 um 19:11 schrieb Georg Ehrke:
> > It's already in wheezy: http://packages.debian.org/wheezy/owncloud
> 
> On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 7:27 PM, Patric Zimmermann
> <Patric.Zimmermann at physik.tu-berlin.de> wrote:
> > ...but sadly it's only the 4.0 release and not the 4.5.
> 
> And this is exactly the problem.

4.0.4 released at owncloud 23rd June, uploaded to debian 29th.  The
4.0.4debian2 scheduled for wheezy includes later security fixes, too.

It's a shame that owncloud 4.5 isn't compatible, but debian's June
2012 freeze date was announced in June 2011, so it was a pretty
slow-moving target to hit.  Missing it seems more due to conflicting
needs than anyone's fault: I can appreciate why the owncloud 4.5
release was wanted, but I also understand why debian's volunteers
freeze the distribution when stabilising a release.  Others have tried
taking debian and making releases other ways, but they've had their
own drawbacks.

And for the next versions, maybe owncloud 4.5's client-server protocol
will be compatible with later versions for a while longer than last
time and there won't be an incompatible change just after distribution
freezes.  Anyone know when the next major base distribution deadlines
are?

It looks like Fedora is about to freeze and its owncloud is only 60%
ready: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/OwnCloud#Current_status
Anyone willing and able to try to help that?  Or is it too late too?

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/