It's considered a good thing that a free software project never really has to die - if the person who started it gives up, another can always take the code and run with it.
人们常常认为一个开源软件工程的优点之一就是不会彻底的消失的。一旦某个人开放了代码，其他人就可以获得和利用它。
However at times the business of basing one project on an existing one does tend to cause some friction. And this is more so when the projects are as visible and high-profile as Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu.
但是一个以存在的项目为基础的项目往往与其原始项目产生矛盾。而且随着项目名声扩大，冲突也越来越多，例如Debian和Ubuntu。
Debian is a free software project that began in 1993 - it has its own guidelines, a social contract, and puts out a high-quality distribution. As the developers are all volunteers, there is no fixed timeline for releases. While several other Linux distributions have used Debian as their base, none has gained so much prominence as Ubuntu, a project that began in 2004 and is now arguably the most popular among beginners and intermediate-level users.
Debian项目始与1993年。它有它自己的方针和政策来指导一套高质量的版本的发行。因为所有的开发者都是自愿人员，所以Debian没有固定的发行时间表。有数个其他发行版是以Debian为基础开发的，但它们都显得默默无闻——除了Ubuntu。这个始于2004年的项目现在毫无疑问的成为在初学者和中等水平用户中最流行的版本。
The Ubuntu developers are all paid for their work. Some of them are former Debian developers; there are some who contribute to both distributions. The Ubuntu project is owned by Mark Shuttleworth, a former Debian developer who made his pile by founding Thawte, a company which provided digital certificates and internet privacy. He sold the company to VeriSign in 1999.
与Debian不同，Ubuntu开发人员的工作被支付以报酬。他们中的一些人是以前Debian的开发人员；也有一些人同时服务于两个项目。 Ubuntu项目的发起人是Mark Shuttleworth，一位前Debian开发人员。他创立Thawte公司提供数字认证和网络安全服务。1999年他把公司卖给了Verisign 而成亿万富翁。
Ubuntu is based on the unstable branch of Debian; one of its advantages has been that with paid developers, it has been able to promise and put out a release every six months. Shuttleworth has made no secret about the fact that while Ubuntu will be free, the company behind it, Canonical, will provide support at a cost. By contrast, Debian's release schedule is based on the principle that something will be released when it is ready; the last release, Sarge, came out in mid-2005, nearly 3-1/2 years after the previous release.
Ubuntu在Debian开发版基础上开发。它的优势之一是其全职的研发人员，这可以使Ubuntu可以许诺以六个月的周期发布新版本。 Shuttleworth已经公开表示虽然Ubuntu是免费的，但其创立的Canonical公司将会以成本价格提供技术服务支持。相反，Debian 的发布时间表的观念是什么时候准备好，什么时候发布。其在2005年中代号Sarge的最新版的发布是在前一个版本发布的三年半以后。
Debian's decision-making is done with all developers contributing if they wish; in the case of Ubuntu, Shuttleworth is the final authority when sticking points arise. At times, seemingly pointless flamewars erupt on Debian mailing lists and go on for days.
Debian的决策过程是所有开发者共同参与的，采取自愿原则。而在Ubuntu,一旦决策出现僵局，Shuttleworth就成为最后的决策者。而Debian的邮件列表上常常会爆发激烈的辩论——这些问题往往是无关紧要。而且这种辩论会持续很长时间。
In recent days, the differences between the two groups has been brought into focus by the resignation of Mark Garrett from the Debian project. Garrett had been a developer for four years and was one of those who threw his hat in the ring for the post of project leader last year. (Australian Anthony Towns won the election for leader). Garrett made a public statement about leaving in which he praised the more rigid structure of Ubuntu; in his own words "having one person who can make arbitrary decisions and whose word is effectively law probably helps in many cases."
最近两个项目的不同之处由于Mark Garrett离开Debian项目而成为公众焦点。Garrett做了四年的开发工作，是去年离开项目领导人之一。(澳大利亚的Anthony Towns被选为新的领导人。)Garrett发布了一份辞职声明。在声明中，他非常赞赏Ubuntu的严格的组织结构。用他的话说：“有一个具有独裁的的领导权和话语权的人对很多事情都会有很大帮助。”
(The irony of Garrett's words is that here we have a developer of free software actually expressing a preference for the what appears to be more of a "cathedral" model of development. The word "cathedral" was coined by open source advocate Eric S. Raymond to characterise the way proprietary software development took place - he contrasted it with what he called the "bazaar" model. The best example of the latter, Raymond postulated, was the Linux kernel.)
(Garrett这段话实际上讽刺地表达了一个开源程序员对更多的属于“大教堂”开发模式中的特征的认同。“大教堂”这个词由开源领袖 Erics.Raymond用来概括私有软件的开发模式而得名。他用他称为“集市”模式来与之对比。后一种模式最好的例子就是Linux核心的开发。)
Friction between Debian and Ubuntu has been developing for some time; last year, the founder of the Debian project, Ian Murdock, was concerned enough to call for timely release cycles by the Debian project. He also urged that an attempt be made to keep the growing family of Debian derivatives united around the common core of the distribution.
此后Debian和Ubuntu之间的摩擦越来越大。关注到这一变化的Debian项目创始人Ian Murdock号召让Debian与Ubuntu有一个规律的发布周期。同时他希望所有的数量在不断增加的Debian派生版本能够具有共同的核心部分。
At least some Debian developers appear to think that Ubuntu takes more than it gives; this led in part to some wearing T-shirts with the words "F--- Ubuntu" at the annual Debian conference in Mexico this year. Some of the common frustrations felt by the Debian crowd were outlined by long-standing Debian developer Martin Krafft in a long posting in his blog soon after the conference. And another Debian veteran Joey Hess has voiced fears that Ubuntu is reducing Debian to "a supermarket of components."
最近，一些Debian的开发者开始认为Ubuntu贡献出来的远远小与它拿走的。于是在今年的在墨西哥举行的Debian年度会议上，一些愤怒的人衬衫上写着“F--- Ubuntu”。长期从事Debian开发工作的Martin Krafft在会议后在博客发表一个长长的贴子概括了Debian社区所共同感受到的不满。另一名开发者Joey Hess也公开对Ubuntu正在把Debian变成一个“组件超级市场”而感到忧虑。
Elaborating on this, Hess wrote: "My main motive for contributing to Debian is to make Debian the best distro I can; I don't mind if others use that work, especially if stuff gets contributed back. But it's long been clear to me that the most important added value to Debian is not adding another package to the shelf, but finding new ways to integrate our software together."
Hess详细的说道：“我致力于Debian的主要目的就是进我所能使Debian成最好的发行版。我并不介意其他人使用我的工作成果，特别是这种使用能够获得更多的开源成果。但是很长时间才让我明白最重要的并不是为Debian增加某个软件包，而是找到一种新的方法整合我们的软件。”
He went on to say: "...contributing individual patches back to Debian is simply not enough for Debian to share Ubuntu's improvements. It puts Debian at best in the position of wasting a lot of time trying to play catch-up and figure out how a collection of patches to different packages fits together into a coherent overall improvement."
他接着说道：“...，向Debian贡献独立补丁完全不能使Debian共享Ubuntu的组件。这使得Debian浪费大量的时间来做一个追赶的角色，而不是解决怎样在不同的软件包种选择一套合适的软件来组和在一起从而得到完整的全面的提高。”
How the differences will be resolved remains to be seen. But everyone who has any interest in either camp would surely be hoping that things will be worked out in a mature manner in such a way that both projects can move forward.
怎样解决分歧还有待于进一步观察。但是对于致力于任何一个阵营的人都希望能找到一种适当的方法来促进两个项目的共同进步。
Disclosure: the author has been a user of Debian for the last six years.
注：作者是一位有着六年历史的Debian用户。
原文链接：http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/5634/997/