Re: [kde-linux] KDE 3 Beta

Anne Wilson wrote:
On Saturday 27 October 2007 12:22:01 James Richard Tyrer wrote:
Long blog from a somewhat old (59) engineer.

Short reply from an even older user :-)
The problem which I have observed in the KDE development methodology is
that the product is NEVER finished -- it doesn't matter if it is 4.0.0,
4.1.0 or 4.2.0, it still won't be any closer to 100%.

I've never yet done anything that I thought was perfect. There is always some
improvement to be made.

I agree 100%. The question is how functional something should be before
it is included in a stable release for the first time.

That's not how open source works, that's not how KDE works. This is
not Vista or Leopard where a box ships and sits on the shelf largely
unchanged for 5 years bar the odd SP or security patch.
I take issue with that. KDE had grown up as it were and many people use
it for production environments. If we are going to release something
which isn't finished, we should indicate this (like KDE4-preview).

I've been using computers since 1981, and PCs since 1987. One thing I learned
early is that you never put a x.0 release onto a production machine.

Yes, that is good advice. But how nice it would be if it weren't that way.

It isn't a matter of waiting around for everything to be done. What we
need to do is only release the stuff which is done in our stable
releases. Early KDE-3 releases contained stuff which clearly wasn't
ready for prime time and this reflects negatively on the reputation of
the KDE project. Yes, the stable 4.0.0 release is going to have bugs,
but stuff that simply doesn't work is more than just a bug and should be
treated differently.

Is it possible to test everything completely without user experience?

No, that is why unstable versions and Betas are released for interested
users to test.

Other projects have adopted a two track approach where there is an
unstable branch (or really it is Trunk) and there is a stable release
branch. Stuff is developed in Trunk and then migrated to the Stable
branch ONLY when it meets QA standards. Or, this can be reversed where
Trunk is the stable release and new stuff is developed outside of Trunk
and then added ONLY when it meets QA standards (IIUC the Linux Kernel is
done this way).

There are other methodologies which could probably accomplish the same
ends.

We can continue to and new stuff, but there needs to be some method to
ensure that we deliver a commercially viable (stable) product. Other
projects have figured out how to do this, we need to do the same.

KDE 3 will not disappear overnight, I'm sure, so the stable environment will
be there for everyone who needs it. Personally I shall be choosing carefully
where I install KDE 4.

Unfortunately, as I have stated, KDE 3.5.8 isn't really that stable.
The reason for this is that new and unstable stuff has been added to it.
It also has regressions from previous 3.x.y versions which have not
been fixed.

Perhaps you miss my point, or perhaps I wasn't clear. I have no
objection to any of the development work that is being done and I do not
want any of it changed. What I do think is that somehow we need to also
release a more stable product that is of commercial production quality.
There are companies and governments which rely on our DeskTop and we
need to provide them with a high quality product. I see a simple way to
do this: the stable release should not have new stuff added to it until
the new stuff meets quality standards. Our current development
methodology makes this impossible.

--
JRT
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