Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 15:10:29 -0700 From: Jordan Hubbard <jkh@freebsd.org> To: paul@freebsd-services.com Cc: nik@freebsd.org, jason@dstc.edu.au, hubs@freebsd.org, stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD 4.4 upcoming release/timetabling/mirroring Message-ID: <20010910151029W.jkh@freebsd.org> In-Reply-To: <239720000.1000158657@lobster.originative.co.uk> References: <225240000.1000155883@lobster.originative.co.uk> <20010910142355X.jkh@freebsd.org> <239720000.1000158657@lobster.originative.co.uk>
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From: Paul Richards <paul@freebsd-services.com> Subject: Re: FreeBSD 4.4 upcoming release/timetabling/mirroring Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 22:50:57 +0100 > I have always voiced concern over the way you roll releases according to CD > mastering schedules. I have done so since we first got involved with WC all > those years ago. > > My viewpoint has *always* been that a release is ready when it's working, > not when the replication deadline looms for the company behind the scenes > calling the shots. Yes yes, this is all fine rhetoric and certainly nothing anyone could argue with if life were quite as simple as that. It is not, however, a simple matter of "calling our own shots" or somehow fending off all those wicked Nazi CDROM publishers who only want to enslave us for our precious bodily fluids (to quote Gen. Jack D Ripper). It is and always has been a question of ACCOMMODATION to various interests, your own company in the U.K. included, under the time honored principle of giving something to get something. In this case, what we want is to continue to see FreeBSD in the retail channel and direct sales markets, both here and abroad. I'm furthermore willing to bet you a dozen gold Krugerrands that if those products disappeared in the next 90 days, you'd hear no end of the screaming from FreeBSD enthusiasts wondering if this was the beginning of The End for FreeBSD since clearly the commercial folks wouldn't be deserting us if they didn't know something the rest of the user base did not. It would be unbelievably naive and short-sighted to think that CDROM publication of our product does not affect customer perception every bit as much, in its own fashion, as product reliability and all that other good stuff does. This is why the requirements for keeping that particular market alive and healthy have always been a part of the project's requirements for each release. They're not the only requirements, far from it, but they're certainly important and they ARE taken into account, just as show-stopper bugs and security holes are taken into account. You're not doing the project any service at all by spouting rhetoric which attempts to paint this as an either-or (or "us" vs "them") argument. - Jordan To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hubs" in the body of the message
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