RC3 delayed until August 6

[Ric]

--- Joe Klemmer <klemmerj at webtrek.com> wrote:
> On Wed, 2003-07-30 at 16:53, Jasper Huijsmans wrote:
> 
> > Ok, I hate to have to announce another delay in rc3, but in view of
> > recent window management 'oddities' Olivier wanted to take a bit
> more
> > time to find the Right(TM) solution.
> > 
> > So, we'll take another week to polish up our CVS modules and hope
> to a
> > release candidate worthy of that tile ready on wednesday, 6 August.
> 
> 	I have been thinking...  (Run away!  Run away!)
> 
> 	I don't think having actual dates published for the releases is such
> a
> good idea.  I don't mean that having deadlines is bad; after all if
> there weren't any no software project would ever make it past the
> beta
> stage (see 90% of the stuff on freshmeat for an example).  What I
> mean
> is that there shouldn't be actual dates listed on the web or any
> announcements for 4.0.  Dates would be best if only used by the
> people
> in the list & irc.  This will keep us from having to answer the flood
> of
> "When will it be finished?" and "You said it was going to be out
> yesterday!" posts.  My idea is to have dates, like 8/6/03, only
> present
> in this list and only references to current status on the web site
> and
> PR's.  i.e. 
> 
> "XFce 4.0 status is currently _RC2_."
> "ETA for final release version is Real Soon Now<tm>"
> "Please join the xfce4-dev list for more information."
> 
> Thoughts?
> 

I do have a thought/suggestion: how about setting the 25th of August
2003 as _THE_  "No Matter What" release date for 4.0.0 and adhering to
that regardless of problems that might arise in the interim?  IOW, I do
think that a public date is important but should not stress y'all out. 
-ever!

The _ONLY_ reason not to release on that date ( or prior to it ) will
be, of course, if the core release components will not run on the
target systems(e.g., the core developers' systems) which seems very
highly unlikely considering how stable and good it is already.   IOW,
if xfce4-session or some plugin is acting up, rip it out for 4.0.0(i
know - xfsm is not in the release but there has been time spent on it
... ).

Of course y'all could release sooner but " No Matter What " happens, 
if <whatever> is not fixed the Right Way(TM),  if <whatever> is found
and reported by <choose your VIP>, if it does not work with <whatever>
program,  release it anyway.  

I think it is reasonable to release with some known problems.  After
all, it says 4.0.0 but it is really 1.0.0 and a D! good 1.0 in my
humble opinion.   Besides, I read somewhere that the OSS rule is  "
Release early and release often "  to achieve success.  i.e., it does
not say "release when perfect" too.

That being said, it is _just_ a thought to perhaps consider ...


=====
Have A Great Day!

Ric
***
Mondale knew this was gonna be a bad day when he called 
Dial-a-Prayer and the taped message answered him by name.
 -- Bob Hope, 1903-2003

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