This is just silly On Wed, 16 Aug 2000 10:40:59 +0100, Derek Fountain wrote:
Even if you interpose a public beta before release, bugs will still crawl through.
Subtle ones maybe, but not show stoppers.
Not at all,. as a commercial developer myself I can test on 20 machines and upon release there are always 10-20% of users that will find "show stoppers". Computer configurations just vary too much.
A beta programme would also delay a release by several months, making SuSE "hopelessly out of date" in comparison with the lesser distros.
Several months? Where did you get that idea? Stick the ISO images onto a ftp server a few weeks before they are sent off to CD manufacture. A "few" can be defined as 2, 4, 6 or whatever is appropriate. Redhat tend to have quite long beta phases and it doesn't do their business any harm.
Have a look at the recent posting to the list. People have been screaming for the SuSE 7 en version the second the de one was released.
Even a 2 week beta release phase for 6.4 would have seen the Netscape, Kpackage and other obvious bugs caught.
Yup and during that time maybe there is a new kernel or a new vmware or new X server etc ... you'd never release anything. But if you did freeze SuSE before the release and test for 2 more weeks, people would scream because some new software release had not been included. Just look at the controversy over the omision of the XF 4 a short time ago.
Some/more regression testing is called for to identify the "no-starters".
To that end, every package *should* include rules and/or tools for regression testing of that package. That would help to enforce the Unix-like process of combining stable components to build a system or distribution. It can also be used to "certify" systems that have been modified from the standard distibution.
If that sounds too much like Engineering; then I apologize.
The FSF is always looking for testers and engineers.. get involved!
I work in the test department for IBM's mass storage systems division. I write test tools for a living. I'm fully aware of the concepts involved in testing. It just requires someone to sit down and write a decent test plan (including functional, systems, regression, etc tests) then the tests in that plan need to be run. They can't hope to run the plan on all possible machines, with all possible combinations of hardware, so once they've got it basically right in their labs they should put it out to a wider audience. The people on this mailing list would be an excellent starting point for that. Give us the beta, the automated parts of the test plan (if possible) and 2 weeks to reports major bugs. The distro would be hugely better for it.
I think you need to think of companies like SuSE as VARs and Packagers.. they don't write this stuff, they improve some things and have to rely on the package developers for the testing. If you want more robust releases, buy SCO and pay for it.. sheesh! Chris -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq