Pascal Bleser wrote:
3.5.2 is a *bugfix* release.
Here you come to a problem I have here (not with you). stable distribution is only updated for security problems. I think YOU should also do updates for bugfixes. Not a major version change, but if this is really only a bugfix release, it should be in YOU (but is it?).
And if everyone was thinking like you, we'd still be using a Linux 2.0 kernel.
I never changed Kde from the distro one and changed however any 12/18 month...
2) I'm not "upgrading all the time", but I'm selectively upgrading quite a few packages: latest firefox, thunderbird, openoffice, KDE, dovecot, getmail, .... - and although I'm a software developer and have 10 years of experience with Linux, I don't need to fiddle with it, it works and I've never been bitten by it
I do most of the same :-). But I have always a stable version (openoffice 1.9 versus 2.0 beta, for example) and have often to reverse to the old one. nightly build of mozilla are not always good choice. can't do this with kde.Gnome (however I have still the 10.0 at hand)
Well that's the way you manage your system. Do however you please, but don't assume that your case is the typical one. From my experience, it isn't.
but it's only your experience. You should understand than your experience, as mine, is quite nothing in the world and certainly not a standard user one.
most users (if not all) always want to upgrade to the latest version
but these same users come also all the day saying they system don't work and asking for support. the newer is the system openSUSE propose, the more difficult is the support. The whole wiki is 2-6 month back from the 10.1 stable version already.
Do you think writing "if it works, don't change it is always a good answer" will make everyone on this planet change their mind ? ;)
users wants all free, immediately and with smile, this is not a reason to do so.
At the very least, on IRC, it would be the best way to drive a lot of people away from SUSE Linux.
in the people that want such a feature there are two parts. The part, like you are, that can do this themselves and manage it. no problem if they do. very nice if some suse worker (or anybody else) can add an unsupported source. but also the part, probably much larger that wants all but is not able to manage it. and this part will flame us if we can't give support. simply look at the others treads on zen... this one was probably too fresh and not stable enough, so people shout.
KDE 3.5.2 is being very stable for me.
I even don't know what version I use, and it's very stable and usable. I have already to see what concrete avantage have the new one. if you said "kde XXxx have _this_ feature and this is a really new and important thing to have", may be we could bring effort, even a backport...
You're really missing the actual topic, by a long shot.
I don't think so. if you want to push the freeze date ahead. it is dangerous. supplementary unsupported packages are made on a voluntary basis and it only need to find a volunteer.
I think that many potential SUSE Linux converts who come asking for information about the distribution would likely rather use another (e.g. kubuntu) than staying with KDE 3.4.x. At least that was the case for SL 10.0. Correct me if I'm wrong but that's really my impression.
a can only repeat that people that are so minded don't interest me. I don't think most users are comparing the distributions on this aspect. the differences given by Yast versus the mandriva config tools or dpkg is of an other importance.
Those users are a big part of the SUSE Linux community and people we'd want to attract to SUSE Linux (or at least, so does Novell).
if Novell don't follow your advice, you are probably wrong on the last part of your sentence.
Who is talking about support ? No one is.
the only thing openSUSE is is support. support in giving packages, support in installing them, support in debugging them. All we do is support.
This is not what the topic is about. It's about providing the latest stable versions of certain packages, not about support.
but kde already release them!!! all what you ask after that is support !!!
I'm talking about a stable distribution release (e.g. SL 10.0 or 10.1) + upgrades for a few key packages like KDE or GNOME. That's very different from using Factory, as Factory is bleeding edge of everything.
I don't see the difference between kde and openoffice (for example). even worst, a kde problem may break all the distro, not an openoffice one. how can you be sure that changing a so important part of the distribution is dangerless without a hole cycle of testing? can't you wait for 8 month? in that case, I thing you address the wrong problem. to solve what you ask for in a coherent manner I see two ways: * make a strong enough involvement in kde/gnome team to acertain the new release is only bugfixes and will not broke any of the thousand of dependencies SUSE linux have. May be the build service will be a great step in this direction. then make it in YOU * found a way to make the life cycle of SUSE Linux shorter. If we had a three month cycle, as it was at a time, the problem wont exist. But Mandriva is on a year cycle, debian... In fact, if the buld service is strong enough, it will make us in accord and serve any new package without breaking bugs jdd -- http://www.dodin.net http://dodin.org/galerie_photo_web/expo/index.html http://lucien.dodin.net http://fr.susewiki.org/index.php?title=Gérer_ses_photos