On 16-Aug-00 Derek Fountain wrote:
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.
Then your testing sucks. If the software we produce here failed for even 1% of users we'd have banks, airlines, insurance companies and heck knows what else suing for millions in damages. Making software that works is not difficult. You just do it right, and don't ship it until it's done.
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.
And people have been screaming ever since 6.4 was released that Netscape doesn't work, that kpackage doesn't work, etc, etc. Having demand for your product is great, shipping a faulty product to take short term gain from those gulible enough to buy it is not. Not in the Linux world anyway.
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
I'm not saying a distro should be put on ice while the public ponders it. I'm saying that the last stage of the testing - which is going to be done in SuSE labs anyway - is done in public.
The FSF is always looking for testers and engineers.. get involved!
If that's aimed at me, I am involved. I sent a bug report to the KDE team this very morning. If SuSE release a beta of 7.0 I'd download it and get involved in testing that to.
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!
Not sure I see your point here. No one is blaming SuSE for Netscape releasing a crap product, or anyone else releasing buggy software. My contention is that SuSE don't need to make avoidable mistakes with their distro. One way to prevent these is to offer a beta test shortly before the CDs go to manufacture. Other distros do it so your arguments that it won't work are illfounded.
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I might add, that much can be learned from the Debian project (and even the
"commercial" distribution, like Stormix, that base themselves on Debian). In
short, extensive testing is involved before a stable release. Until that point
a new release stays as "unstable"--although one has the option of downloading
parts or all of an unstable release as well.
Personally, with SuSE's price increases and a sour taste from 6.4 bugs, I'm on
the verge of switching to Debian or Stormix. What SuSE has going for it
though, is that it tends to stay a bit more on the cutting edge with each
release and its rising popularity in the industry (see LinuxWorld news items
this week for examples of the latter).
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Arlen Carlson