"Timothy R. Butler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Quite frankly, Mandrake 9.1 has a LOT of showstopper/serious bugs still. One
> long time Linux user I know who I sold on Mandrake 8.2, but couldn't get 9.0
> to install on several machines, has already posted on another list that he is
There are two kinds of bugs: hardware and software. People who
can't install mostly experience hardware problems, and for this
kind of problems we have little influence for fixing..
> resigning himself to not upgrading to 9.1, because of all the problems he had
> with RC1. He quite resonably realized that nine days just isn't enough to fix
Funny :). A guy who resign using a stable release only because
the beta release contained bugs :).
> - Bug #2268: Every wheel mouse I try is not detected properly. This includes
> an IntelliMouse and a Logitech MX 700 (both using PS/2).
We *cannot* detect PS/2 wheel mice.
> Now, this is what I ask. Mandrake, as I understand it, still has major
> financial problems (I think that goes without saying since it is still in
> bankruptcy protection). It may be that things should go better this year, but
> if Mandrake 9.1 comes out with all kinds of annoying and/or showstopper
> problems (like an SB Live! card being impossible to install), then it
> probably won't get good reviews or sell well. I would think a bad sales
> period for a distribution release right now could make creditors a lot less
> favorable about Mandrake's situation.
Let it clear: we all want the most bug-free release possible.
Though, there are several parameters in the equation:
- by ourselves, we can't extensively test the distribution;
hence, we need external testers: mostly people from cooker, and
non-cooker people who test betas/rcs; this has limits because
of mirror courtesy, mirroring time, and testers' motivation
- we have little chance to fix hardware problems ourselves
- when you go down fixing smaller and smaller software bugs:
- developers's motivation decreases
- you increase the probability to break larger things (because
many things interact w/ each other), thus you still need to
test "all", and testing "all" needs time and motivation
(both internal and external)
- the distro becomes more and more outdated
- not all bugs are important; people who experience bugs worry
about it but sometimes they are nearly the only ones having it,
and they not all deserve delaying a release
- we provide updates
--
Guillaume Cottenceau - http://people.mandrakesoft.com/~gc/
