Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 15:59:12 -0300 (ADT) From: The Hermit Hacker <scrappy@hub.org> To: mike allison <mallison@konnections.com> Cc: Joel Ray Holveck <joelh@gnu.ai.mit.edu>, chat@freebsd.org, jkh@time.cdrom.com Subject: Re: Commercial, Non-Hacker CD Distribution - A thought Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.3.96.970419155049.4592P-100000@thelab.hub.org> In-Reply-To: <335A70A1.6C9890B9@konnections.com>
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On Sun, 20 Apr 1997, mike allison wrote:
> > How many MicroSloth users would ever think to upgrade their
> > computers? I'm not looking at ppl like you and me that upgrade their
> > systems weekly/daily...I'm looking at ppl like a friend of mine that uses
> > MicroSloth in day-to-day business and hasn't upgraded since she first
> > installed Win 3.11 *shrug*
>
>
> Here, I think you're missing where I'm going. I'm not concerned from
> the standpoint of upgrades or users, I'm concerned from the PERSPECTIVE
> of the commercial vendors. They have to know that Certified Releases
> (Not Current) will be stable for a period and that they will get some
> help stepping up to new releases so their software/release works when
> the new OS hits the street.
>
> I'm not saying this isn't true today, I'm saying I doubt a vendor
> believes it to be true...
Understood, and I think that it is something that is addressable...
again (Jordan/core, correct me if I'm wrong here) I believe that minor
releases (by release, it automatically excludes -current development trees)
are 'stable' as far as binary releases are concerned. So, a Developer would
do a binary release for 2.2.0 when it came out, and would be able to be
confident that that binary would be *stable* for any 2.2.x releases
subsequently made. It wouldn't be until 2.x.0 came out (or, 3.0 in our
current case) that a recompile might/would be required...
And, even then, I think a 'commercial CD release' would have to
follow an 'OS CD release' by several weeks (months) while all the binaries
being distributed were fully tested at that release level, and approved by
the individual vendors...
> That might be a bit harsh and simplistic for those in the know, but for
> Common Man (tm) these are the realities. I've been working with Unix
> for 11 years now and i still run into people who neither know, nor care
> what it is and how powerful it is. Mostly because they think King
> William is the ULTIMATE authority on computers, as if he'd invented the
> F*cking things.
Or those that fear it? I have a friend of mine working as a
Systms Administrator for a relatively small company here in Nova Scotia...
she's pretty much been a part of the Novell/MicroSloth world for so long
that she can still be considered a toddler around Unix...so when she has
problems, I pop into her work and help her out, show her around the different
utilities (ie. she didn't know how to use find) and now she's actually
starting to enjoy working in it...having a bit more confidence in what she's
doing.
For *alot* of ppl out there, end-users in general, Unix represents
a non-GUI environment for them...effectively (to them)...DOS, no point and
click. And, quite frankly, I'd even be hesitant putting most of them in my
X-Windows environment, since its more a X'terminal' environment then it
is a simple, 'point-and-click' environment...
Marc G. Fournier
Systems Administrator @ hub.org
primary: scrappy@hub.org secondary: scrappy@{freebsd|postgresql}.org
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