ftp://ftp.epicsol.org/pub/epic/EPIC4-BETA/epic4-1.2.3.tar.gz ftp://ftp.epicsol.org/pub/epic/EPIC4-BETA/epic4-1.2.3.tar.bz2
In accordance with my stated intent to frequently release beta snapshots to give everyone the chance to stay current with changes in the release candidates, epic4-1.2.3 is now available. This version fixes the -o and -O command line options, fixes a small number of bugs, and adds a $numlines() function from fudd. THE ELECTION BEGINS ON MONDAY -- If there are no more changes between now and monday, then 1.2.3 will be the release candidate. If there are more changes, then 1.2.4 will be released on monday and that will be the elected candidate. Let me briefly run down the purpose and history of the election... As everyone knows, epic versions are released "whenever i feel like it", and they are of whatever quality they are. But I do not want to be a dictator or tyrant, and the quality of formal production releases of epic reflects on everybody, not just on its maintainers. Because EPIC has had a prior history of rather low-quality releases, production releases are no longer a common occurrance, and the process for generating one is a long and painstaking process. We've been working for about 3 months now to get epic4-2.0 ready, and we're almost there. But before I am willing to stake all of our reptuations on the line releasing epic4-2.0, I want backup support. Specifically, I want a large number of people to publicly state before me and their peers that they tested epic and they do not know of any bugs. The definition of "large number" has changed over the years, from 5 to 15 people. If I cannot find a large number of people who are willing to make this proclamation of "non-buggy", then I am entirely unwilling to make a production release. Even *one* bug will hold up the release. So each person gets "veto power" and any legitimite bug will either be fixed, addressed, or clearly disclosed and documented as a problem. I do not want to release epic4-2.0 if even one person has a serious problem with it. The purpose of the election is twofold -- it allows any epic user who wants to, to make a declaration that they have tested epic and they do not know of ANY problems that they think should be addressed; and it allows those who do have problems a way to formally assert those problems in a manner which is guaranteed to spur immediate action. The election will begin at least 24 hours after the last release candidate is made publicly available. This is expected to be 1200 (noon) UTC on Monday December 8, 2003. The election will last until 24 hours have passed after there are both 15 "yes" votes and 0 "no" votes. In no case will the election end before 72 hours. This gives everybody at least 4 days to test, and a full 24 hours after the election "passes" to lodge any objections. Jeremy _______________________________________________ List mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://epicsol.org/mailman/listinfo/list
