Why is my contribution refused?

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ErikZ
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Why is my contribution refused?

Post by ErikZ »

My contribution on how to get Adobe Digital Editions 2.0.1 working on Wine 4.0 was refused, allegedly because Wine 4.0 is considered outdated.
But I just recently downloaded it from this very WineHQ website. It is what you get when using the download for the Ubuntu 18 that is the basis for Mint 19 that I am using.
After installing this download it appeared to be Wine 4.0.
It took me some effort to figure out how to get an Adobe Digital Editions running so as to be able to download ebooks sold with DRM.
As practically any 'test' result of Adobe Digital Editions in the appdb is marked as 'old' I thought it a good idea to document my results.
It would provide for a recent test result on ADE in the appdb.
I had to fool the pull down menu on which wine version I am using, as 4.0 is not offered there.
So I choose the oldest available and clarified my choice in the text.
Now I receive an email that my contribution is refused because "wine-4.0 was released 3 years ago".

I find this very disappointing. Mint 19 / Ubuntu 18 is half way its five year life cycle. Wine 4.0 solves my problem.
What is the point?
And anyway it is weird to be told to use an outdated version when one has just downloaded it from the very same website.
Moreover it has not become clear to me that upgrading wine on my system is an option.
Why would wine 4.0 be offered for Ubuntu 18 if it is considered outdated and a more recent version runs without problems?
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dimesio
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Re: Why is my contribution refused?

Post by dimesio »

You already know why it was refused: we do not accept test reports for obsolete versions of Wine. Selecting a wrong version and stating the correct version in a comment is not an acceptable workaround because the table of test reports and the search tools rely on the version actually selected and will not show the comment, and this is misleading to users.

As for 4.0 being the latest version available in our repository for Ubuntu 18.04, that is simply not true. We are still building packages for 18.04, and our repository has the latest versions: 6.0 for stable, 6.5 for devel and staging. It's true 4.0 is still available in our repository--all our old packages are archived there--but you would have to force apt to install it; by default, apt will always install the newest version in a repository.
ErikZ
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Re: Why is my contribution refused?

Post by ErikZ »

Thank for your reply.
As you were so adamant about wine 4.0 being archived and Wine 6.0 being offered on the download page I scrutinized my configuration and discovered that the WineHQ key was registered but the link to the WineHQ repository not. Apparently I made a mistake somewhere in the process of trying, rolling back and trying a little bit differently. When I did register the package source yesterday Wine 6.0 was immediately offered. I ran the update, but Adobe Digital Editions no longer performs without problems.
So for the moment I stick to my properly working configuration on Wine 4.0 as it serves my purpose.
A suggestion: it would have helped me to discover my error earlier when the download page would indicate clearly which version is (currently) offered.
The appdb is, of course, your party and not mine. But I still think it odd that an advice based on a fairly recent version is refused while the appdb contains quite a number of tests that are based on Wine 1.xx (for ADE that is, I did not check other applications).
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dimesio
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Re: Why is my contribution refused?

Post by dimesio »

The old test reports in the AppDB were accepted at the time those versions were current. They are kept for historical reasons.

The WineHQ home page does list the current stable and development release versions.
wine6444
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Re: Why is my contribution refused?

Post by wine6444 »

ErikZ wrote: Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:55 pm The appdb is, of course, your party and not mine. But I still think it odd that an advice based on a fairly recent version is refused while the appdb contains quite a number of tests that are based on Wine 1.xx (for ADE that is, I did not check other applications).
Exactly, ErikZ. You're not alone, trust me.
I also had more than one contribution to the Wine App Db refused and I decided I'm not staying silent about it anymore.
I had carefully crafted a contribution with extensive step-by-step installation procedure, because none of the others offered that. Not only that but some even offered wrong advice or introduced unnnecessary steps in the process.
I'm currently seeking a way to see if the administrator decision can be revoked, because my contribution was first approved before being removed by another app maintainer.
Some of these people are not fit for the positions they occupy on the site.
A few handful of bad apples in the Linux community prevent volunteers from making contributions to the system. We must speak up about it, don't stay silent anymore. The abuse went on for too long. Tired of crap from people that think they have power inside their heads.

The contribution in question was made to the game Sims 1: Complete Collection. I have just posted a comment there mentioning what happened, in case anyone is curious. It's very probable that if you are reading this right now the comment there is already gone. Censorship and abuse of power. That's how they're doing it. Some of these people are not fit for the positions they occupy. Let's create mechanisms for decisions to be revoked or discussed, not decided single-handedly by a single person like that anymore.

This even was specially bad since the other maintainer APPROVED the post. The other guy went there and UNDID his decision. Can any person on Wine App Db simply do that? They don't need some kind of approval? Sorry, but that system seems deeply flawed to me.
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