[Mageia-dev] Release cycles proposals, and discussion - messages from the forum

Fri Jun 17 19:33:35 CEST 2011

by *Trio3b 
+<https://forums.mageia.org/en/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=395>* » 
+Jun 17th, '11, 17:55
+Must preface this reply by saying I am not a coder, developer, packager. 
+Just an end user. Long time MDV user (ver. 10.0). I have tried almost 
+every distro out there for fun but on my main desktop I use MDV 
+2008.1KDE3.5.x and have stuck with it b/c it is used for business.
+
+I have been tinkering with PCLOS for the past two years. It is very easy 
+to succumb to the "grass is greener" mindset and I too have fallen into 
+that trap with PCLOS. It really is a fine distro (originally and to some 
+extent still based on MDV) but have come to the conclusion that for fun, 
+upgrading/Updating is fine, but for day to day business use it is not 
+really an option.
+
+I understand that Mageia has little or no control over certain elements 
+of the IT landscape.Witness KDE fiasco with distro forums full of 
+problems, breaks, memory leaks, Plasma configuration problems. I have 
+experienced that with PCLOS being a rolling distro so I have NOT 
+migrated to it for business as of yet.
+
+I believe that a great deal of credibility can be given to opensource if 
+it can be seen to be stable and useable for long periods of time in the 
+business community. I haven't a clue about the technical requirements in 
+determining a release schedule but can speak from a users standpoint and 
+that is many small businesses such as myself CAN NOT employ technology 
+people. I really enjoy installing and configuring linux OS on various 
+hardware but I have to be realistic and stand firm in the belief that if 
+one of my office crew is faced with a blank screen (as has happened with 
+recent PCLOS2011.6 test release), then the fun of "fixing" it must take 
+a back seat to getting on with work.
+
+It is mentioned that several releases can be maintained at the same 
+time. Can't a long term stable release be made to sync up with new 
+advances every couple years, with the long term user UNDERSTANDING that 
+a major reinstall will be necessary at the end of that 2-3 yr . THAT IS 
+INFINITELY preferable to an upgrade that breaks something.
+
+Speaking of planning, when you KNOW you have to upgrade you will have 
+your work flow and backups planned. An upgrade that breaks a system 
+disrupts workflow and even if you have data backed up it destroys 
+confidence in the ability of the software to support workflow.
+
+Workflow disruption is an enemy to running a business and constant KDE4 
+upgrades have kept me from leaving KDE3.5.x
+
+Hope this helps some devs
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