Comment Re:Debian, Redhat.. Middle ground (Score 1) 368
This will probably get me flamed, but... It seems to me that RedHat's approach to releases is more inline with the successful model of opensource software.
If you read, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, by Eric Raymond, he suggests that the strategy to "Release Early, Release Often" was a critical part of Linux development. It got the new source out into the public, where feisty members of the OS community tore into it, found bugs, sent 'em in, and all-in-all got a better software going. It makes sense - the enthusiasts got to tackle it more often, and felt like they were participating in a positive effort towards something they all wanted. He even proved it worked that way in his work with fetchmail.
This isn't to say that it isn't a pain in the ass for those of us who are new to Linux, but frankly, as has been said, if you want the stable version, you just download an earlier version. I think that the ability to do that the middle ground. :) As I understand it, and admittedly...I am new to this, part of the fun in Linux is finding the bugs and getting them fixed. :)
~S
If you read, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, by Eric Raymond, he suggests that the strategy to "Release Early, Release Often" was a critical part of Linux development. It got the new source out into the public, where feisty members of the OS community tore into it, found bugs, sent 'em in, and all-in-all got a better software going. It makes sense - the enthusiasts got to tackle it more often, and felt like they were participating in a positive effort towards something they all wanted. He even proved it worked that way in his work with fetchmail.
This isn't to say that it isn't a pain in the ass for those of us who are new to Linux, but frankly, as has been said, if you want the stable version, you just download an earlier version. I think that the ability to do that the middle ground.
~S
