While I understand this decision, I would like to mention some issues [which you almost certainly already knew about] which might convince someone else to eventually tackle the CD release process (or maybe scare them away from doing so):
(1) CDs, by their nature, are a bit more difficult to corrupt than many other relevant storage mechanisms, (2) The CD release process imposed the discipline of a regular "release freeze" on development, (3) Some modern machines are built without any CD reader. I will go back to doing that "shut up" thing, now. Thanks, -- Raul On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 2:10 AM, Theo de Raadt <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Vijay and everyone else, > >> I had sent an email to [email protected] regarding this >> yesterday and they replied that "there isn't a 6.1 cd, please check >> out the obsd.org site to persuade them to make one...". However I did >> not want to bother the list and the developers in case CDs are not the >> way to go. I did a search on mailing list messages but did not see >> anything about 6.1 CDs. > > True. The 6.1 ANNOUNCEMENT does not list an upcoming CD. > > 6.0 was announced as the last CD release. > > 6.0 says so in the liner notes. > > It is hard to believe OpenBSD followers missed that. > > 6.0 had 6 songs. It was meant to be over the top, a celebration. > > I sung the lyrics for the 6th song: > > Goodbye CDs > I'm done with you today > Goodbye > Goodbye > Goodbye > No more pre-production > And no more long delays > So I have peace > Of mind > Goodbye. > > I am a sorry for people who missed the cues, but this change is > personal. I made 40 CD releases in 20 years, investing personal > effort and risk to build and sustain the costs of this project and > sub-projects. > > I do not want to keep making CDs to sustain myself and the project > anymore. Other ways need to work now. > > The decision is not only economical. I don't want the "friction" of > trying to achieve high-quality production of collector item data CDs > twice a year, in 2017. 6.0 was a high-quality CD release like > previous ones, but don't want to expend the effort of producing and > testing to make sure 6.1, 6.2 etc are up to that standard. It is > better to call it quits on a high note. > > Having done 6.1 without a CD, we learn that incorporating CDs into the > production cycle has been a big drag, basically 1 month out of 6. > Other project developers and processes were locked to that cycle. It > is shocking how easy a release cycle is without a CD. Generally our > tree is always ready, we may be able to do future releases at the drop > of a hat. > > As long as we produce a release the developers can be proud of. That > is more important than making a CD -- by far. > >> So I am thinking that the CD's may be ready only by May 1 and the >> release date was pushed earlier for some reason (just a guess >> because in 2015 and before, CDs were released in May and November) > > The shop will not be selling 6.1 CDs. > > Most things come to an end, sorry. > >> If no OpenBSD CDs are going to be released, then probably it is better >> to just send a donation to the OpenBSD foundation and/or to Theo de >> Raadt. > > Vijay, that is the correct way to sustain the software. > > The CDs haven't pulled in sustaining revenue for many years. > > Based upon income from contributors the Foundation performs a > fantastic function -- making worries and problems disappear. > >> If CD's are going to be released, of course, I would be first >> in line since I have all CD's since 2.8 :) > > That is a good collection. I have one of each, and ones before that. > I've heard that 2.5 is the most difficult to acquire. > > I think the audio CDs are undervalued. They contain no dorky software > -- they are lyrics + music + drawing, just art. Dorky art sure, but > no software... > > Sorry guys. > > Anyone want to buy some well-used CD burners?
