Disappointed

[Chris]

On 06/04/06, Jonathan Noack <noackjr at alumni.rice.edu> wrote:
> Stephen Clark wrote:
> > [LoN]Kamikaze wrote:
> >> Stephen Clark wrote:
> >>> [LoN]Kamikaze wrote:
> >>>> Alexey Karagodov wrote:
> >>>>> hi.
> >>>>> i think, this unstablity happaning just because developers trying to
> >>>>> make
> >>>>> two systems at one time, one is 6.0 and another 7.0 current and they
> >>>>> supporting old version, lower then 6.0
> >>>>> i want to ask developers, why you developing new system, 7.0, if you
> >>>>> don't
> >>>>> finish old, 6.0 ?!
> >>>>> finish 6.0, make it work, and upgrade it to 7.0 and to 8.0 and to 9.0
> >>>>> and so
> >>>>> on ...
> >>>>> what so new and revolutionary in 7.0 in comparison with 6.0 ?!
> >>>>> to use your system i must be a DEVELOPER, but i don't have so much
> >>>>> time! i
> >>>>> don't want to develope! i want to use, i want to help you with some
> >>>>> advise (
> >>>>> e.g. what feature to add, what feature to change etc), i can and i
> >>>>> want to
> >>>>> share some of my hardware to feet your needs, make a mirror, make a
> >>>>> test
> >>>>> server/workstation/notebook/PDA etc. i'm not an freebsd developer.
> >>>>> i'm just
> >>>>> admin and a user.
> >>>>> your system is most greatest i ever seen. another wonderful system is
> >>>>> SOLARIS.
> >>>>> but your's is so unstable ...
> >>>>
> >>>> All this is described in many places. It all comes down to this: if you
> >>>> don't want to be a developer, JUST USE THE RELEASE BRANCH. That means
> >>>> Releng_6_0 for now.
> >>>>
> >>>> Stable only means compatible to previous versions of the same branch.
> >>>> Not that the system is stable.
> >>>
> >>> Who in their right mind would think that "stable" actually means
> >>> "stable"!!!
> >>
> >> It does mean that the API is stable.
> >>                               /\
> >>                               ||
> >>
> >> So that you can use a driver written for 6.0 on any 6.x build. And that
> >> you can run software compiled for 6.0 on all following versions of the
> >> 6.x branch without a compatibility layer.
> >
> > Then maybe it should be called api-stable!!
>
> Given how long "STABLE" has been in use, changing it would be a gross
> POLA violation.  Actually, "POLA" illustrates my next point... :)
>
> Have you ever Googled something?  Saying "Googled" is easier than saying
> "searched Google for".  Language (especially technical language) gets
> shortened and simplified.  These shortened forms are a part of the
> community's jargon (which is a synonym for "dialect" -- see where I'm
> going here?).  Different dialects may have different meanings for a
> word/phrase.  It is therefore VITAL to learn the meaning of a particular
> word/phrase in the target dialect before attempting to use it.  The
> consequences of not doing so range from confusion and misunderstanding
> to outright insult.
>
> Is "STABLE" confusing to new users?  Absolutely.  I didn't get it at
> first either.  Is it difficult to find The Truth?  Absolutely not.
> Google for "freebsd stable" and the first link is the handbook's
> explanation.
>
> -Jonathan


Interestingly tho 6-STABLE right now is appearing more stable then
6.0-STABLE, a fair few bugfixes seem to be in place in 6.1-PRERELEASE
which fix 6.0-RELEASE problems.

Chris