Ok, 0.5.1 is coming up, and we really need to prepare. I am quite determined that the new site (at http://freenetproject.org/tiki/) be made available at or before the 0.5.1 release. With this in mind, EVERYONE CHECK IT OUT, SIGN UP IF NECESSARY (password "serapis"), AND MAKE IT GOOD! Do your best to look at the site from the perspective of someone that equates P2P with Napster, freedom of speech with child pornagraphy, and thinks Freenet is an ISP.
The Windows installer should shortly be replaced with a revamped version, Windows users should try it out, and offer as much constructive feedback as possible. Many here may not like Windows, but most of our users will be running it, and even minor improvements in the Windows installer can have significant effects on people's perception of Freenet. Particularly, I would love to see automatic download of the JRE if it is required. Less importantly, it would be nice to give the user the option of updating to either the stable or unstable snapshots. I am driving up to Northern California tomorrow where I will remain until Friday, but I will be checking email. Anyone that needs to contact me should either email me, or call me at (+1) 310 968 0484. I also have the option of alerting journalists that have previously expressed an interest in Freenet as to what date 0.5.1 will be released. As we learned last time, this can lead to tension, so this time I am opening the decision up to public discussion. Recall that the benefit of giving journalists such advance notice is that they are more likely to talk about the release, which means more website hits, which means more $$$ for Matthew, which means that Freenet gets better faster. The disadvantage is that it becomes very difficult to delay the release once journalists have been informed, since we would damage our relationship with time if we give them a date and it doesn't happen by that date. Some might suggest that we just tell them "well, barring bugs, it will be this date", but if we did that, they would ignore us. Conditional advance warning is no warning at all so far as they are concerned. For the 0.5 release, I decided to shield the developers from the "shades of grey" nature of publicity - this caused some tension - and I didn't enjoy being the bad guy. This time I have decided to make the decision openly. All are welcome to offer their opinions, I will do my best to incorporate them into my eventual course of action. Be quick, time is short. Ian. -- Ian Clarke ian@[freenetproject.org|locut.us|cematics.com] Latest Project http://locut.us/ Personal Homepage http://locut.us/ian/
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