Re: 'unstable' (was Re: potato late, goals for woody (IMHO))

[Bernard ISAMBERT <isambert@sib.fr>]

Ralph Mellor wrote:
> 
> based on anecdotal evidence (including several messages posted
> to this list), for many, possibly most, of those who need to
> install a system for others, especially in a business context,
> and possibly mostly in an english-as-primary-language context
> (which influences interpretation of 'unstable'), selecting a
> system called 'unstable' represents an unacceptable, or at
> least problematic, risk to their career/client relationship.
> 
> to emphasize: *regardless of technical and situational merit*,
> i would not risk using a system which was called 'highly
> dangerous, do not install', for a system intended to be used in
> a non-test situation, if i knew there was a good chance that
> the client would come to know that that was the system's name.
> 

So, in this situation, and as you said earlier, you must
> do
> a technical evaluation of a particular snapshot to determine its
> suitability for a given situation.
> 
  And, at this point, it's no longer the *unstable* distro,
but *your* distro. You have frozen it for your, or your client, usage.

> 
> given that words matter, what about the word 'unstable'?
> 
> i would guess that many, probably the majority, of management
> staff whose first language is english, would interprest 'unstable'
> in a computer context to mean, more or less, 'frequently crashes'.
> *i* understand it really refers to 'frequently changes', which is
> not necessarily the same thing, but that's irrelevant. i would
> look stupid if it crashes, regardless of technical and situational
> merit.
> 
But, as everyone can easily experience it,
if you regularly update your system with the unstable distro,
you have a system which really crashes, or fails on important
packages, here or there now or then.
I'm not natively english speaking, but for me that's the definition
of un *unstable* system.
So, please, call it unstable. It's the best word.

-- 
Bernard ISAMBERT (isambert@sib.fr)
Syndicat Interhospitalier de Bretagne (www.sib.fr)
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