Testing test releases: do [ESC d]not update

[Phil Schaffner]

On Thu, 2004-02-26 at 17:16 -0500, Mike A. Harris wrote:

> On Tue, 24 Feb 2004, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> 
>snip<
> >but with this new fedora approach, that's just not true anymore,
> >at least for the first release or two.  if one is constantly
> >updating against rawhide, then you have to assume that, as some
> >things get fixed, others will get broken.  which makes it pretty
> >much impossible to use such a system for useful work, no?  not a
> >complaint, just an observation.  :-)
> 
> That's a fair observation, but you should be aware that this is
> absolutely no different than any previous OS release, other than
> the fact it is an open process now.  We _NEED_ wider testing than
> we can do internally alone in order to get things in a more
> stable state.  That either means we do private beta releases with
> a selected team of individuals who 100% accept the deal about the
> chances of having a totally broken system for the private betas, 
> or we make it open, and let people decide for themselves.  We 
> chose the latter.  One thing we can _NOT_ do, is guarantee the 
> stability of the OS, when it is in early development, which is 
> where things are today.

I fully understood the unstable nature of beta/test releases when I
installed test1, having read the caveats and tried other betas over the
years; however, the rate of package updates via rawhide has been rather
overwhelming and makes me wonder at the value and efficiency of testing
such a fast-moving target.  I realize it would be more work, but perhaps
an approach with multiple stability levels like FC1 (updates, testing)
or ATrpms (at-stable, at-good, at-testing, at-bleeding) repository
hierarchy (probably with fewer levels) would provide an opportunity for
better in-depth testing of some of the more stable packages in a
somewhat more stable environment, while allowing the real bleeding edge
fans to drink from the rawhide fire-hose.

My $0.02

Phil

P.S.  With the low cost of hard disks, I highly recommend keeping a
multi-bootable copy of a more stable OS (FC1 in my case) installed if
you really need to have something reliable available to get some work
done while still enjoying the rawhide roller-coaster ride.