From: alsaggaf@athena.mit.edu (M. Saggaf) Subject: Re: Will you all STOP whining about ALPHA-pl10! Date: 29 May 1993 03:04:29 GMT
In article <1u6fu8$knu@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu> kbj@po.CWRU.Edu (Kevin B. Jacobs) writes:
>
> Not to trash you, H. Lu, but you should have tested the new release of
>libc and gcc more extensively before you released them. Also, it would
>have been a good idea to have waited for the new kernel dependency to be
>released and stable before rushing gcc out the door. You've done this once
>or twice before, that I remember, but only this time has it caused
>confusion. The easy solution is to have a coordinated 'pool' of
>pre-testers out there that will be able to report bugs such as this before
>the entire net has upgraded with a buggy release. Linux is still in rapid
>development, and mistakes like these will only serve to prolong the image
>that linux is a buggy, unstable and hacker-only operating system.
>
> My suggestion to Linus is as follows: Don't let new software based on
>unreleased kernels out of your sight! It only serves to mislead those that
>are hungry for the very latest version of everything and are foolish to
>think a higher version number means a safer product.
>
There isn't any whining and there isn't any mistake by H.J. Lu.
0.99.10 ALPHA looks very good, and has the normal number of tiny
little bugs expected in any alpha version, it's just being used by
more people this time since it took a little longer to come and has
the new networking code. H.J. has contributed a lot to the linux
community and is one of its more prominent developers. Suggestions to
him should be emailed and not posted in public. I've always liked that
he makes new versions of gcc available to us soon when they're
released by the FSF. We the have _choice_ whether to upgrade or wait
for a later version. He made it clear that the new version requires
0.99.10 ALPHA, so everyone who jumped the gun is responsible for
his/her own actions. Beta versions of gcc have always been made and
announced on the gcc channel.
Just because something is released doesn't mean it's a mandatory
upgrade. Some things, especially alpha releases, are not intended to
be used by everybody.
All the best,
/M. Saggaf