conclusion: F15 / systemd / user-experience

[Michael Ekstrand]

On 06/13/2011 11:57 PM, Genes MailLists wrote:
>     Fedora could well benefit from switching to a rolling release model
> as well (no not rawhide - a controlled rolling release much as the
> kernel development follows).

I ran rolling release distros on my laptops for a while - Gentoo, then
Debian Testing.

I came to the conclusion about 3 years ago that, personally, a rolling
release does not work for me, even though Debian Testing is very
reliable.  If I have a rolling release, I am regularly looking for
what's new, trying it out, and tinkering with my system.  This distracts
me from getting my actual work done.  Having real stable releases allows
me to consolidate this exploration and tinkering in a week or two twice
a year, and I can always source-install or backport the few applications
where I do have a legit need for more recent versions (although 6 months
is generally often enough for upgrading them).

Now, this is just me and my psychology.  But the 6-month release cycle
is very good for me, and I think many people likely benefit from
consolidating update adjustment into regular intervals.

- Michael