I confess. I only learned about this new project called Tanglu yesterday , and I got excited (perhaps prematurely). But will Tanglu be just another distribution in the .deb world?
What will Tanglu be?
We've already seen more or less what it's all about. Tanglu will be a distro based on Debian Testing , just like SolusOS , SolydX , LMDE, etc… But, contrary to what many think (according to the comments I've read), it won't be the same.
Ok, but what is the difference?
One of Tanglu 's main goals is to prevent us from having to wait for certain packages once Testing enters the freezing phase.
SolusOS , SolydX , and LMDE rely heavily on the Debian Testing repository update process , and while they are in this phase, packages that may prove stable will not be added until the freeze is lifted. This is precisely what Tanglu aims to prevent.
Let's take a simple example. Right now, in Debian Testing, the version of KDE we have is 4.8 . However, KDE is already at version 4.10.1 and by August, it will be at version 4.11.
Let's suppose that when Wheezy reaches Stable (in a month, two, or more), for whatever reason the Debian developers decide not to release KDE 4.10.1 , but instead version 4.9 . What happens? We would still be behind, perhaps, because of an architecture we probably don't even use, and Debian is possibly one of the distributions that supports the most architectures.
SolusOS , SolydX , and LMDE would have to continue waiting, while Tanglu wouldn't . In fact, all these distributions could take advantage of the opportunity and use Tanglu's repositories.
A distro for everyone
But we're not just talking about KDE or any other desktop environment; we're talking about updated developer packages and even its own kernel , which , from what I've read, will be the same one Ubuntu uses . I suppose that's because the Debian kernel is free of proprietary blobs and such.
Another goal of Tanglu is to provide us with a Debian system that can be used by developers who want up-to-date software, and by end users who want the same. The best part? Those of us who work with servers continue to use Debian , and we use Tanglu on our desktop computers.
To achieve this, the Tanglu team will not stray too far from Debian 's development . In fact, as they state in the official announcement , Tanglu will support Debian by addressing some of the things users want that the Debian team doesn't have time to offer, or doesn't prioritize (I'll mention KDE again).
How are the packages chosen?
Let's take another example. Let's say that for the first or second version of Tanglus , I would like Firefox 23 to be added to the repositories. The first thing that will be taken into account is whether that version is stable or doesn't present any problems in its use.
If other users disagree, a vote is held, and if the software already meets the other requirements, it's included if the majority votes YES . If the majority votes NO , for the next Tanglus release, I could propose including that version of Firefox or a more up-to-date one, and the process is repeated.
Therefore, much of what Tanglu will offer will come from the suggestions/opinions/votes of its community.
Furthermore, they're doing something very clever: why not use what's already been done? In the case of KDE , for example, Tanglu will use Kubuntu 's packages , which will only be modified for the following reasons:
- Remove things related to Kubuntu that we are not interested in.
- Make them compatible with packages Debian Testing.
- Eliminate everything that is not strictly necessary.
And so on with the rest of the packages. So soon, we'll have Muon on Debian , just to mention one advantage of all this.
Damn versionitis !!!
Believe it or not, I like stable things, but when a developer releases a new version of a package, it is usually for two reasons:
- Security update and bug fixes.
- Added improvements.
We can verify this with any desktop environment package you like. KDE , GNOME , Xfce —with each new version, they add tons of new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements. And generally, all of this boils down to: Greater stability . Isn't that what most users want?
That's what Tanglu offers.
What Tanglu represents (for me)
It's still too early to draw a conclusion, but from what I'm seeing: Tanglu is the Debian I've always wanted.
What's got me excited? It's true. It already happened to me with LMDE , it happened with SolusOS , which I thought would be what I was looking for, but they weren't. If everything goes well with Tanglu , these variants might be forgotten, or if they're smart, they might take advantage and join the new initiative.
SolusOS, for example, isn't aiming for the same thing as Tanglu . SolusOS 's primary goal is to provide the user with a desktop environment similar to GNOME 2. But what if I don't use GNOME?
SolydX offers more flavors, but they won't add any updated packages, so you'll use whatever version of GNOME , KDE , or Xfce is in the repositories, frozen or not.
LMDE ? Well, so many disappointed users can't be wrong, and the two distributions I just mentioned are proof of that. Does LMDE have KDE 4.10 in its repositories ? If so , please tell me, and this whole article would be pointless. And as far as I know, LMDE "promotes" Cinnamon and MATE as desktop environments, not KDE.
But if I go further, I think Tanglu is the boost that Debian needed to catch up with "new user" distributions like Ubuntu , Linux Mint , openSUSE , etc.
Maybe it's just the excitement, but I see nothing but advantages. If the project fails? No problem, I'll just keep happily using my Debian . If the project succeeds? I'll still be using my Debian , even happier.