2,204 karma · joined April 9, 2013
Email (b64): aDhuQHNldGVjLmlv
Still a significantly less dumb idea than space data centers.
Slop-py as hell.
https://wiki.debian.org/StaticLinking#downsides has some of the background there.
I did want to clear up one misconception that you might be having, though. The .deb versions shipped by upstream are great, but they're not really ever going to be useful for Debian. One of the side-effects of Debian's requirements around software freedom is an important principle: you should be able to build any package in Debian with only the things that are in Debian.
The problem with fresh isn't fresh itself -- packaging that isn't particularly difficult, though it does need some amount of care and attention. The problem is that fresh pulls in 732 different crates which all need to be packaged in Debian before fresh can be. Some of them are already in Debian, of course, but... you can imagine that the effort here is very much not insignificant.
Upstream doesn't have to deal with this problem, as they can simply statically build them into the executables. That's a violation of Debian policy, though, and isn't allowed for anything in the archive.
Hope that helps you understand why you may not get many bites at this offer, generous as it is!
The idea that a startup would be competitive in the VC “the only thing that matters are the feels” environment seems crazy to me.
With seat pitches so tight these days, the idea that an evacuation can be done by unprepared people in 90 seconds is a pipedream, even before taking into consideration people trying to get their luggage.
Obviously, this can raise its own problems -- you'll have to train the kids not to randomly dial 911! -- but you never know what circumstances might exist where someone in a panic reaches for the nearest phone.
Ivan was also really helpful when I emailed him with some stupid questions -- way above and beyond.