I'm just one guy

There is a Forum thread where posters have been getting very hot under the collar:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=81427

It brings out some issues that I would like to comment on.

There are often complaints about me, like "why have you ignored ****?", "why haven't you fixed/implemented ****?", and so on.

Actually, I read very few Forum posts these days. The volume of posts on the Puppy Forum, and the sub-projects and discussion-threads are many. I usually login once a day, or every second day, sometimes even after a longer interval, and cherry-pick a few threads. Usually, I read the threads relevant to what I am currently working on.

I work on topics that interest me. For example, for sometime I was building Puppy for some ARM boards (which I will get back to soon, most likely). Recently I was fixing the build of "Arch Puppy" in Woof -- as some posters pointed out, I had this working in Woof many years ago, but time marches on and it had become broken.

I don't sit at my computer all day. I do have a life! I usually work at my computer in the morning for 2 - 3 hours, maybe a little bit in the afternoon, and maybe more in the evening. It is very variable.

I get accused of ignoring many things, such as the "Archpup" project. But, really, "ignoring" is the wrong word. I posted in the above thread why I hadn't paid closer attention to Archpup. In the entire lifespan of Archpup, I probably visited the thread once, noticed that it was not a Woof-built puppy, so classified it as not appropriate for my attention, then moved on.

I have to work that way. As I say, I am just one guy, and I just have to prioritize, sometimes quite ruthlessly.

Then there are those who think that I am playing favorites. For example, favoring Fatdog64 over Archpup. Well, Fatdog64 is built from Woof, so has more "right" to be favored. However, it is built from an old version of Woof and no longer tracks latest Woof, so I mentally re-assigned it as more of a fork of Puppy -- consequently, I removed Fatdog64 from the Puppy Release Notes (a page in every Puppy release that has detailed release notes, also some info on other puppies). I also no longer mention Fatdog64 as an "official" Puppy (which has peeved some people).

However, that is not putting those distros down in any way. Archpup looks superb, Fatdog64 is also superb.

Some people are complaining that I should be acknowledging these other distros, forks of Puppy, distros with Puppy-like features, and many other puplets and remasters.
I do understand that if someone has a favorite, they want it to be promoted, but I don't see why I should be expected to promote it.

There are some posts in the Forum where people complain that I don't like them, or express some disgruntlement at not been acknowledged or responded to.

I can only apologise. The Forum is like a river raging past my house. I dip my cup in every day or so and take out some of the water. Well, that analogy has it's limitations, but you get the picture.

---

Comments

Arch Pup 007
Username: BarryK
I guess that this Forum thread is also related to the above link: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=85020

Just Guy
Username: Ramachandran
"Dear Sir I have the same opinion of Shri. Linuxcbon.

Archpup
Username: BarryK
"I shouldn't have, but I couldn't resist replying to this very ignorant and nasty post: http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=693289#693289 I was reading recently about how the Arch Linux guys run a very "tight ship" on their forum. In contrast, the Puppy Forum is a "free for all", and distros only vaguely Puppy-like have threads. I wonder if there is a need for a new Puppy Forum that only discusses the "official" puppies? It would need committed moderators though, people who can take a bit of flack. John Murga, who hosts the current forum, can tell you some stories about the kind of flack you would have to endure! Anyway, just a thought.

Thank You, again
Username: jrb
"“There are some posts in the Forum where people complain that I don't like them, or express some disgruntlement at not been acknowledged or responded to. “ I’m sure you realize that there are some people who will always feel resentful and hard done by, probably having more to do with their childhood, or genetic makeup or whatever. They represent a small, but very vocal, minority of people out there. I can assure you that the vast majority of Puppy users are very appreciative of your efforts. On the other hand I have at times been concerned that you are over doing your efforts. How can “One Guy” do as much as you do without burning out or suffering physical consequences? Please take good care of yourself. Make sure you are getting as much pleasure from life as you are giving. A thousand thanks for what you have done, J

Ignore
Username: Raffy
"Sometimes travelers complain that a fellow sheltered them but they were not offered the master's bedroom. ;) AplhaOS has its own forum now, so the proponents should be posting in the new forum. Those posts are best ignored. They are not as exciting as the news about the MK 808! (Today the Mele skipped sounds while playing HD video. I will investigate why...)

one of a kind
Username: vicmz
"Those people have a lot of free time, just let them find more important things to do, i.e. "If you don't plan to help just don't bother". LOL I personally feel spoiled by Puppy, so thank you very much. You are one of a kind, Barry Kauler :D PS: And a big thank you and cheers from the Hispanic community.

Fatdog64
Username: kirk
"I think you're right not calling Fatdog64 an "official" Puppy. I never took that as any kind of slight. Sorry you're getting grief for that. Actually, Fatdog64 has almost nothing in common, other than the same general philosophy and some packages. All the init scripts are different, boot codes, pretty much everything that distinguishes one distro from another. We do still use pet packages, but even that's been changed to xz compression and a different package manager. I think I can speak for James too, as far as how we work. Goal number one is to have something that works for us. Goal number two is to have something that works for others if time and interest permit.

Thank You, again
Username: jrb
"“There are some posts in the Forum where people complain that I don't like them, or express some disgruntlement at not been acknowledged or responded to. “ I’m sure you realize that there are some people who will always feel resentful and hard done by, probably having more to do with their childhood, or genetic makeup or whatever. They represent a small, but very vocal, minority of people out there. I can assure you that the vast majority of Puppy users are very appreciative of your efforts. On the other hand I have at times been concerned that you are over doing your efforts. How can “One Guy” do as much as you do without burning out or suffering physical consequences? Please take good care of yourself. Make sure you are getting as much pleasure from life as you are giving. A thousand thanks for what you have done, J

Fatdog64
Username: jamesbond
"Barry, I commend you that you still take time to answer this criticism. As JustGreg said, the answer should be obvious to anyone who has been involved in voluntary work of any sorts. You don't owe any of us anything - the time is yours, the distro is yours, the blog is yours, and you are free to do anything, announce anything, or disregard anything as you see fit. You are not answerable to any of us. Whatever decision you take is yours alone to make. Echoing previous comments and I'm sure many silent (and not-so-silent) puppy users past, present and hopefully future, all I can say is thanks for bringing out Puppy for the rest of us. Donning my Fatdog64 co-maintainer's hat - I would say I wouldn't expect you to do otherwise. Overtime Fatdog64 has diverged more and more from standard woof, although both myself and kirk do try to keep the spirit of Puppy alive to the best of our abilities, and we keep a constant watch on your blog and make sure that interesting new woof features get ported to Fatdog64 too. It is not inappropriate to call it a "fork" today and none of us would have ever dreamed of asking for your acknowledgment or endorsement of any sort, let alone asking Fatdog64 to be recognised as "official" (I don't know who get peeved because of this lack of "official" status, but it is certainly neither me nor kirk). The fact that you still do mention Fatdog64 on your blog from time-to-time is a privilege for us, it is not something that we (or anyone else) can demand of you. I was just chuckling silently when I saw how Fatdog64 was dragged into the fuss, when both myself and kirk have never even thought about it :) cheers!

Allwinner quad core computer
Username: don570
" Rikomagic announces MK802 IV quad-core mini PC with Android 4.2 Chinese device maker Rikomagic plans to launch a new Android TV stick in mid-April. Like some other models we’ve seen recently, the upcoming MK802 IV will feature a Rockchip RK3188 ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. *CPU: Rockchip RK3188 quad core Cortex A9 *GPUS: Mali-400MP4 *System Memory – 2GB DDR3 *OS: Android 4.2 OS *Storage – 8 GB internal flash + micro SD slot (up to 32GB) http://liliputing.com/2013/03/rikomagic-announces-mk802-iv-quad-core-mini-pc-with-android-4-2.html http://www.rikomagic.com/en/news/shownews_id_22_nid_5.html

Rikomagic not Allwinner
Username: don570
" Ooops a mistake. It's Rikomagic the competitor of Allwinner that manufactures the chip. Allwinner also has a ARM Cortex-A7 Quad-Core chip that should have started shipping recently.

thanks
Username: wognath
"I'm sure most users understand: Barry Kauler is not making Puppy for you, he just happens to be generous enough to share his work with you. The tech support provided by Barry and the many experts who contribute on the forums puts to shame any company I've ever dealt with. As always, thanks.

Mr Retirement BK
Username: cthisbear
" For someone who has retired from Puppy at times...you don't need to apologize at any time to anyone. You look after BK first.... because I think that when you do that you tend to give us even better Puppies than ever you did before. Take a drive, and a holiday.... a bit of you time. Puppy is a smiley distro.... good people good hearted generally speaking You gave us that, thanks mate. Cheers.... Chris.

all I know is..
Username: scsijon
"All I know is, that when I pm on murga-linux or add a note here asking for help I get a suitable response with more than enough explanation, and i'm glad of them. Mind you i'm using woof2, ppm, and jwm, as it's the only way I could build, I just don't have enough knowledge to do it other ways. My four puppy's are mage2 (mageia2), myz (very minimal set for racy), qtpy (qt4 / racy cross with development tools), and 'tentively' osue (opensuse) is starting to sort it's self out, although needing 20 individual repositries for a set is a 'pain'.

Puplets as testing branches
Username: technosaurus
"Sometimes there is a natural order to chaos and that is part of what makes our forum of disarray come together so well. Without any management involvement we have organized into various "testing branches" that can be "selectively merged" back into trunk. This is just my approximation and an abbreviated one at that but as I see it we have: quirky->pupngo->projects "pull"-ing from it wary->slacko->projects "pull"-ing from it racy->fatdog64->projects "pull"-ing from it ... and many more with a lot of cross-pollination but this is how new ideas get tested, shared and perfected. Without the open communication we have, some of these innovative ideas would get lost or abandoned due to naysayers saying it can't be done or its too hard. As it is, the best ideas get noticed (eventually) and then improved and incorporated. We'll call this the 3 I's of puppy: Innovate, Improve and Incorporate (as compared to Microsoft's Embrace, Extend and Exterminate model)

Allwinner quad core -may 3
Username: don570
" There is a Allwinner quad core stck computer running Android 4.1 available from kimdecent beginning May 3 The Newest arrival Quad core Mini PC from Kimdecent! It powered by Allwiner A31 Quad core CPU+PowerVR SGX 544 MP2 GPU. Offer the ultimate power when runing multi-task! It also build-in 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM. and 1xFull sized USB port + 2pc Micro USB port. And a micro SD card slot support up to 32GB. Now we accept pre-order, estimated delivery time is 3th. May. http://liliputing.com/2013/03/kimdecent-unveils-cs868-android-tv-stick-with-allwinner-a31-quad-core-chip.html

HP tablet - first review
Username: don570
" first review of HP tablet by Gizmo HP Slate 7 Hands On: A Better Way to Do Android Kyle Wagner This is the good HP. We knew that HP had been planning on making some new Android hardware, but the Slate 7 is still a pleasant surprise. Because it's good. http://gizmodo.com/5986538/hp-slate-7-hands-on-a-better-way-to-do-android

Tags: general