Re: [Buildroot] [PATCH v2 01/77] Remove mender packages

From: Thomas Petazzoni via buildroot <buildroot@buildroot.org>
To: Adam Duskett <aduskett@gmail.com>
Cc: "Bernd Kuhls" <bernd@kuhls.net>,
	buildroot <buildroot@buildroot.org>,
	"Koen Martens" <gmc@sonologic.nl>,
	"Aleksandr Makarov" <aleksandr.o.makarov@gmail.com>,
	"Zoltan Gyarmati" <mr.zoltan.gyarmati@gmail.com>,
	"Marcin Bis" <marcin@bis.org.pl>,
	"Robert Rose" <robertroyrose@gmail.com>,
	"Adam Duskett" <adam.duskett@amarulasolutions.com>,
	"Yair Ben Avraham" <yairba@protonmail.com>,
	"Angelo Compagnucci" <angelo.compagnucci@gmail.com>,
	"Marcin Niestroj" <m.niestroj@grinn-global.com>,
	"Cédric Chépied" <cedric.chepied@gmail.com>,
	"Heiko Thiery" <heiko.thiery@gmail.com>,
	"Dario Binacchi" <dario.binacchi@amarulasolutions.com>,
	"Titouan Christophe" <titouan.christophe@mind.be>,
	"Fabrice Fontaine" <fontaine.fabrice@gmail.com>,
	"Joris Lijssens" <joris.lijssens@gmail.com>,
	"Philipp Richter" <richterphilipp.pops@gmail.com>,
	"Thomas Devoogdt" <thomas@devoogdt.com>,
	"Romain Naour" <romain.naour@gmail.com>,
	"Roy Kollen Svendsen" <roykollensvendsen@gmail.com>,
	"Brandon Maier" <brandon.maier@collins.com>,
	"Francois Perrad" <francois.perrad.86@gmail.com>,
	"Noé Rubinstein" <noe.rubinstein@gmail.com>,
	"Jesse Van Gavere" <jesseevg@gmail.com>,
	"Luca Ceresoli" <luca.ceresoli@bootlin.com>,
	"David GOUARIN" <dgouarin@gmail.com>,
	"Andrey Yurovsky" <yurovsky@gmail.com>,
	"André Zwing" <nerv@dawncrow.de>,
	"Daniel Price" <daniel.price@gmail.com>,
	"Christian Hitz" <christian@klarinett.li>,
	"Gregory Dymarek" <gregd72002@gmail.com>,
	"Stefan Ott" <stefan@ott.net>, "Baxiche Su" <baxiche@gmail.com>,
	"Philippe Reynes" <philippe.reynes@softathome.com>,
	"Fabrice Fontaine" <fabrice.fontaine@orange.com>,
	"James Hilliard" <james.hilliard1@gmail.com>,
	"Giulio Benetti" <giulio.benetti@benettiengineering.com>,
	"Karoly Kasza" <kaszak@gmail.com>,
	"Martin Bark" <martin@barkynet.com>
Subject: Re: [Buildroot] [PATCH v2 01/77] Remove mender packages
Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:38:19 +0200	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <arFb6txpfwW2SwzJ@windsurf> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <CAFSsvmpcYXFia=4TuZGKAEpyciugC5nUn4vM6nYTnAQHG_+G-w@mail.gmail.com>

Hello Adam,

On Sun, Sep 20, 2026 at 12:33:08PM +0200, Adam Duskett wrote:

> I feel like this is an understatement. It's better to say completely ignored,
> including my emails to the original RFC for this patch series. Is it worth even
> keeping these packages in Buildroot when an external tree that is actively
> maintained is available if the maintainers of Buildroot refuse to even look at
> patches to keep mender up to date?

Thanks for your feedback. Based on how you phrase your feedback, it
seems like you're somehow taking it personally, as if it was
specifically your contributions that were being ignored.

In case this wasn't already obvious: there is nothing wrong
specifically about your contributions. We currently have a backlog of
700-750 patches, some of them much much older than yours.

While I understand the frustration that it may cause, simply being
"grumpy" is not going to help in any way. What would help is having
more contributors involved in the review of patches from others. Some
Linux kernel subsystems now have a policy that if you want to get your
patches merged, you need to help the community by reviewing patches
from other developers.

Regarding the idea of external trees vs. upstream: it is very much the
same discussion/argument as with out-of-tree kernel drivers
vs. upstream drivers. Yes, anyone can throw out-of-tree kernel drivers
on any random Github repo, and yes getting the same drivers accepted
upstream is going to take more effort and more time. But still, people
(including you I'm pretty sure?) prefer to use upstream Linux kernel
drivers, because of the community review that provides higher quality
and consistency, and the long-term maintainability.

Can I ask that rather than just looking at your own patches for your
own specific topic, you take a look at the bigger picture, hopefully
turning your "grumpiness" into more productive help/participation to
the Buildroot community? This is going to be a LOT more useful.

And I restate: Mender is an important piece of software of the
embedded Linux ecosystem, and it makes complete sense to have good
support for it in upstream Buildroot.

Best regards,

Thomas
-- 
Thomas Petazzoni, co-owner and CEO, Bootlin
Embedded Linux and Kernel engineering and training
https://bootlin.com
_______________________________________________
buildroot mailing list
buildroot@buildroot.org
https://lists.buildroot.org/mailman/listinfo/buildroot