On 11/01/12 20:22, Christoph Berg wrote: > Hi, > > this looks like a rant, but is actually a suggestion on where people > might look to find information. > > I just tried to find out when lenny is going out of support, > i.e. when > is "squeeze release + 1 year"?
It sounds like the sort of search term employed by someone that already knows the answer to the question. (I suspect a search of the release teams lists would find matches on that term) Maybe it just me - but I'd be searching for information on "lenny security support" > > * Go to www.debian.org > The top section is just a random collection of (too many?) links, > let's skip it. Those links don't seem random - they seem like some of the most common things people would be looking for. Lets see - Support (list heading). That's where I'd start looking for a "Support" query. (except I'm lazy and would have just typed "lenny end of support" into the search box). No - nothing on that page about Support lifetime - at which point I'd be thinking of way to improve my search term. "*security* support lifetime" doesn't yield anything on lenny in the first page of results, so I try "lenny security support lifetime" Nothing in the first page of results there either (no complaints Raphael, I'm not requesting "search suggestions"). >From there I'd either follow the links on the page I'm on (Support) to the wiki, or the mailing list - and search for "Lenny security support lifetime". The wiki doesn't give me the answer, but the mailing list does - in spades (seems a few don't search the mailing list, they often repeat the same question in posts). Admittedly I'd probably have started with a search engine before going to Debian.org The search engine I tried gave me the answer in the summary of the first few results using any of these" "lenny end of support", "lenny end of security support", "lenny end of life". "lenny end of support site:debian.org" got me the answer as well (2nd result) > "Getting started" is not what I want, let's skip it. > "News" only goes back to July 2011, as squeeze was released around > February, let's skip this section. Whereas I wound up following "Updated Debian GNU/Linux 5.0: 5.0.9 released" (because that's Lenny)- and it contained various security items. But *not* the information you were looking for. That's another place it might be useful to have a link to a page about security support periods. > At the end of the Security Advisories, there's a link to the > security pages, go there > * http://www.debian.org/security/ And before that there's a list heading called "Security" - where I'd gravitate to the FAQ - scroll down to #24 and have my answer. Debian.org => Support => rethink Debian.org => Security => FAQ => "Q: How long will security updates be provided?" OK - it explains the rule, and the reasoning. But I'd need to know the release dates to get the answer. (if I was searching). > Security Information doesn't say anything about EOL, let's try one > of the buttons at the top > * http://www.debian.org/distrib/ > "Getting Debian" doesn't say when squeeze was released, let's try > the next button at the top But if you were looking to see when Lenny security support ends - why look for Squeeze release like that? Again - it seems like you know the answer "squeeze +1 year". In which case why not:- Debian.org => Release Info => "released as version 6.0.0 on February 6th, 2011" > * http://www.debian.org/support > "Support" links to the release pages. > * http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/ > There it is: Debian 6.0.0 was initially released on February 6th, > 2011. > > Admittedly, there is a link on the front page to exactly this page, > but it is in <small> font and hidden between lengthy other sections, > so I didn't see it. > > As "Debian stable" is the only product we are selling (and maybe > oldstable), I think there should be more "real" information about it > on the front page, i.e. not only generic stuff people know anyway, but > also information that changes with every release and people will > actually need to look up. (The number of packages is a good example > for that.) > > Christoph > > PS: Thanks for the new layout :) I'd agree that the information is important, and not easy to find on the Debian site (it's on wikipedia, for what it's worth). Perhaps an entry at the top of the Support page (Security Support Periods) leading to another page with the information on specific support lifetimes, the rule that determines the period, alternative support mechanisms (if any). I'll echo the compliments on the new layout - and the latest tweak improved the small scale rendering. Kudos - designing a simple, clean, uncluttered interface to the universe of Debian information is no mean feat. Every year the amount of information grows, and the site layout and page design improves. Thank you. Cheers -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected] Archive: http://lists.debian.org/[email protected]
