On 05/19/2017 09:25 PM, Per Jessen wrote:
Richard Brown wrote:
On 18 May 2017 at 19:53, Per Jessen <per@computer.org> wrote:
We just need a clear/accurate definition of what "supported" really means in this context.
In my opinion for our distributions 'supported' falls under the following definition
Built to the following standards and not shipping anything to users until they're complete: - formal legal review, ensuring the licenses involved are compatible with each other and openSUSE's license as a GPL collective work. - formal packaging review, ensuring the packages are built sensibly and maintainably - formal security review for security sensitive packages - formal QA, ensuring the packages will work
(to clarify 'formal' in this context means an established process consistently applied to all applicable changes)
and after release, to be supported a distribution must ALSO be: - updated using packages that comply to the same standards as the original release, either using matching processes or a refined process for post-release maintenance
By this definition, both openSUSE Tumbleweed and Leap 42.2 are supported, and everything else is unsupported.
I agree. I am just wondering if we should choose a different word. "to support" to many people means "to help" or "to assist", which is often interpreted to mean a lot more than your four lines above. I don't have a better suggestion, but sometimes we are more keen on rejecting requests for support by saying "no longer supported" than we are on saying "yes, we'll help you with that, it's supported". The word is losing its significance, I fear.
I have heard the theory that Ubuntu helped to break the real meaning of "support" when they started labeling some of their releases as LTS (Long Time Support). Before that, "support" meant real assistance and was almost always associated to a contract. "If you have problems, call me. I will fix them." That's what companies and individuals pay for. What free Linux distributions offer is not support, it's maintenance. "I will make sure the included packages are safe and not broken by other updates". Many companies have a model based on offering support on top of an already maintained open source software. As I said, some people think that if Ubuntu would have called their releases LTM (Long Time Maintenance), it would have been more accurate and others wouldn't have feel "forced" to start misusing the word, just to pair with them. Cheers. -- Ancor González Sosa YaST Team at SUSE Linux GmbH -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-project+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, email: opensuse-project+owner@opensuse.org