Re: Release?

[Mike Goldman <whig@by.net>]

Adam Di Carlo wrote:

> Boot-floppies is moving along, but probably won't be in really good
> shape until Jan 1.  Which is not the delaying factor, really, given
> the bugginess of base at this time.

This was my primary concern at the time the freeze was delayed -- So long as we
do not freeze, Debian does not stabilize, and so long as we wait for stability
in order to freeze, we cannot freeze.

IMO, the purpose of freezing is to stabilize.  I don't care much if Debian is
stable before the freeze, just so long as it freezes.  Yes, a short freeze is
good, but better a long freeze than an interminable unfrozen unstable.

There should be a *firm* date for freezing.  Everyone should be given fair
notice of the date, and when it comes, we should not make any excuses to delay
it.  If necessary, unstable packages can be backed out to older stable versions
(this will be easier with the package pool, of course).  Essential packages
should command complete attention -- and package maintainers with
release-critical bugs in frozen should be disallowed from uploading any updates
into unstable until these are resolved.

I'd honestly like to see a freeze scheduled several times a year, every three or
four months, but six months at the longest.  If we have the resolve to do it,
and stick with our schedule, I think Debian would be very much improved.