[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: woody is getting worse...



Nick Phillips <nwp@lemon-computing.com> writes:

> That's what testing is *for*. It's for making sure that oversights
> and things that "should work" really do; for catching the slip-ups
> before the majority of users get hit by them.
>
> If the a majority (or even a significant minority of people, amongst
> whom are a number who are unable to read bug reports and edit text
> files) of end-users are using testing, we have a different problem -
> if you're not capable of checking for and reading bug reports, then
> Branden's right, you shouldn't be participating in the *testing* of
> something like a new release of Debian.

I have personally converted a number of my friends and other people to
Debian, and I am forced to recommend they use woody (testing) because
potato is far too ancient for a desktop environment.  Although seeing
flamewars like this sometimes makes me regret my decision, I still
think it's an overall benefit to the project.

It was not so long ago that I first started running unstable (what was
to be potato, at the time), and it helped me learn how Debian worked,
and eventually how to help out by filing bug reports and compiling and
patching packages on my own.  There will always be people like that
who are just starting to run testing or unstable, and still learning
how things work.

There are also people for whom potato is simply not an option; for
example, one of my friends owns a Sun Blade 100, and it won't run
potato, as it needs a 2.4 kernel.  So he's running sid (necessary for
the newer XFree at the time).

One thing to keep in mind is that Debian has grown enormously in size;
it may seem like there aren't any users reading the bug lists before
reporting one, but in fact they're probably just a pretty small
minority of a very large group of people.

But in my opinion, instead debating whether or not end users should be
running testing or whether or not they know how to check the BTS, we
should instead just concentrate on getting woody out the door :)



Reply to: