I think one positive point is that the Beta/RC cycle was much longer this time round, giving people a lot more time to find problems and report them. With 8.2 the Beta/RC cycle was very quick, so a lot of problems made it through to the final release that franckly should not have been there. Hopefully the greater care that was taken this time around should be reflected in a better quality release - watch this space for further comments.
I've already seem some of the responses, can I add my voice to those saying that having multiple error reporting routes is not helpful. Personally I think the Cooker list is the best place for this sort of thing, particularly since many of the people who post here will also continue to play a role in-between releases. Continuity and continuous testing is the theme I'm trying to get at here. Another issue is feedback. If someone has gone to the trouble of reporting a bug then a simple acknowledgement can go a long way to keeping them motivated. In addition acknowledging help in the change logs would also be a good thing - I noticed Pixel doing this, but I can't remember anyone else doing so. Whether BugZilla should continue to be used I don't know - used properly it could be a powerful problem reporting and monitoring tool, but I don't think its been used properly by anyone (and that goes for the user community as well as Mandrake people). What is needed is discipline - the user community needs to be more careful reporting bugs, and Mandrake needs to use BugZilla to provide feedback w.r.t. problem status and solution. Can we get that sort of discipline? I don't know. Finally can I say that the impressions I've had of 9.0 indicate that Mandrake has done a tremendous job. As a software professional I am more than aware of the problems you can get on handling a project of that scale, the fact that you have achieved so much speaks very highly of everyone concerned. Early this year I was actually thinking of switching to another distro (due to the problems with 8.2), but you have gone a long way to renewing my confidence in Mandrake. Well done, now get some rest (and a large drink). Alan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Warly" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, September 25, 2002 6:35 PM Subject: [Cooker] 9.0 and next > > 9.0 is (likely to be) finished. > > Thanks to you all for your precious help. > > During last 6 months period, and especially in the last beta period, some > of you give some advice/critic/flame regarding Mandrakesoft development > process. > > It is now the right time to debrief all this. > > Please comment on what you liked, disliked in the 9.0 building, testing > and problem reporting process. > > I already collect on various mandrake IRC channels: > > * send a mail to the changelog disk when packages are removed with the reason > > * improve the cooker cooker FAQ pages, about cooker etiquette and everything > when reporting a bug (http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/cookerfaq.php3) > > * improved bugzilla to have a easy mail interaction system, and a more > friendly interface. And to have a last known problems page. > > -- > Warly >
