On Wed, 2002-08-21 at 00:49, Ron Stodden wrote: > Warly, > > The beta cycles are too fast for people limited to V90 (56KB) downloads. > beta 3 came before beta2 could complete download. > > Now beta 4 or rc1 is to come before download of beta 3 can possibly be > completed! I don't yet have the first beta 3 CD image down (57%). > > So much for any possibility of beta testing. > > At, say, an optimistic 4MB/sec overall effective download rate, one > 700MB CD takes 50 or 60 hours,ie 2.1 days+ (on a 24x7 assumption). 3 > CDs would therefore take nearly a week. Then testing and reporting time > must be added. > > Not all of use have broadband access, and even if we do, the cable > vendor's acceptable use policy does not permit such large downloads > (here you get your account summarily closed with no reopening possibity. > Only an unlimited downloads V90 ISP can make it possible. Even then > the maximum session time is 5 hours, although luckily mine does not > enforce this overnight.
None of this is an overriding reason to dictate beta testing timeframes. > So beta releases cannot be closer than 4 weeks apart, better say 6 in > practice. > > Unfortunately, it must be so <g> if you want any beta testing done. > > This is a real and pressing problem, and again, Mandrake is shooting > itself in the foot. So beta test every second beta, or simply as often as you possibly can. -- - Antony Suter (sutera internode on net) "Exner" - "Tools to make tools."
