Re: Dia-0.95

[Lars Clausen <lars raeder dk>]

On Tue, 2006-01-31 at 12:33 +0100, christian ridderstrom gmail com
wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Jan 2006 tim bogie gvds com au wrote:
>
> > > > You'll have to find some way of managing interem bugfix releases if
> > > > non-developers are going to keep using dia.
> ...
> > > > It is a wonderful tool, but I cannot wait a year for brickwall bugs
> > > > to get fixed. Even if there are new minor bugs left in the minor
> > > > releases, releases with the major bugs need to be out more often.
> ...
> > > Amen. Release early and often. CVS = some bugs fixed, other bugs
> > > introduced. A big no-no for formal deployment, specially for random
> > > users and always-rushing admins for which compiling it under Windows is
> > > a PITA.
> ...
> > Geez.  Don't you think all you whingers are being a bit heavy on Lars
> > and Hans.  My point of view is that they have created this off their own
> > sweat and deserve some kudos and respect for what they have built.
>
> Lars and Hans definitely deserve credit, kudos and glory for what they've
> accomplished with Dia. Especially as I think most of us know how difficult
> it is to have enough time for all the things we want to work on. So I
> certainly understand why Lars/Hans can't do as much as they'd like to do.
>
> However, having said that I think it is fair to let them know of problems
> with Dia. You can even argue that this is a way of helping the project.
> Once they know of these problems, it's definitely their prerogative to
> completely ignore it. It is up to them to choose, and ignore any advice to
> release more often.

Absolutely.  In fact, having been told in time would have been very
useful.

At last release, I did decide to release the next version with 3-4
months.  Then life happened.  Outlook for me is somewhat better now, but
we will need all the hands we can get to get the new versions out
sooner.

> Personally I hope they will release more often. Speaking only for myself,
> the problems with the fonts have made it problematic for me to work with
> Dia. In addition, it has made it extremely difficult for me to get my
> co-workers to also use it :-(    This in turn makes collaboration
> problematic, and right now we're considering using something else because
> of this :-(

Yes, I know the feeling.  I was hoping to get to use it at work, too,
but couldn't convince them in the shape it was in.

> > From a practical point of view, if they are reluctant to release a 0.95
> because it may contain bugs, perhaps it'd feel better if it's initially
> called 0.95-beta. The "beta" tells me that it's not considered stable, but
> it's at least not such a moving target as 0.95-CVS.  This would also allow
> us users to help them by testing it and give them feedback on bug fixes...
> The important thing here for us users would be that the file format
> doesn't change randomly.

We usually do a release cycle of sending out a release candidate,
allowing a week for people to find important bugs, making a new
candidate with the fixes, until a week goes by without new problems
coming up.  

> > Dia is a fantastic product, even for something that hasn't hit version
> > 1.0 yet.
>
> Dia is fantastic, but perhaps we should remember that it is a open project
> rather than a product. The difference to me is that we aren't paying for
> it, and the resposibility of helping to make it better falls on all of us.

Amen.

-Lars

-- 
Lars Clausen (lars raeder dk, larsrc gmail com, http://lars.raeder.dk)
"I do not agree with a word that you say, but I will defend to the
 death your right to say it."
    --Evelyn Beatrice Hall paraphrasing Voltaire