RPM version goes backward in Rawhide

[Kevin Kofler]

Adam Williamson wrote:
> You don't make any attempt to engage with the reason for it: to ensure
> that updates get sufficient testing.

I kinda did, with the next paragraph (which you are quick to dismiss as off 
topic). :-)

People will test the stuff when it's marked stable, and that way they 
actually test what will be in the release (or the Alpha or Beta).

> changed, you should at least engage with why it is the way it is, and
> explain why you think the benefits of not enabling updates-testing by
> default in Branched releases (which, to me, seem marginal: it saves
> people who run pre-releases and then update to final a bit of trouble)
> outweigh the drawbacks (which, in the shape of reduced feedback on
> testing updates for Branched releases, could be significant).

1. I don't consider the upgrade path issue "marginal" at all. If people 
install our prereleases, they expect to be able to upgrade to the final 
release seamlessly. At each release, we get bug reports about "broken 
upgrade paths" from Beta to Final which are actually just a result of 
updates-testing getting magically disabled (and keeping it enabled wouldn't 
be that great a solution either).
2. Updates-testing tends to contain very broken stuff, for which the 
maintainer knows it needs more testing before being proven usable (or not). 
Enabling it by default makes Branched more unstable than it could be (and in 
some cases, even more unstable than Rawhide, as the EVR monotonicity issue 
which is the subject of this thread shows).
3. People testing with updates-testing enabled aren't testing what will 
actually end up in the releases (Alpha, Beta, Final), which use only 
packages marked stable.
4. Updates-testing being enabled by default means that people installing an 
Alpha or Beta immediately get fed tons of 0-day (actually negative-day) 
updates, because the Alpha or Beta does not include those testing updates by 
design. It makes it look quite pointless to work on stabilizing the Beta 
when people who installed the Alpha and ran "yum update" are already using 
newer packages than those the Beta will ship before the Beta is even being 
prepared.
5. People who want to use updates-testing will opt in to it explicitly. 
Opting in is easier than opting out because it means upgrading packages 
rather than downgrading them.

        Kevin Kofler