(I apologize for the previous blank message--not sure what happened.) Obviously I can't speak for the developers (and wouldn't want to), but I think it's a Good Idea(tm) as long as it clearly alerts you upon startup that it's unfinished, alpha-quality software. The pros should be weighed against the cons. On the con side, it might give a negative first impression to first time users. On the pro side, it would allow users to test a much wider range of hardware. Personally, I know that I haven't had a chance to test 3 of my machines because I have no way to get Haiku on them, and even my own attempts to get a bootable CD working have failed. Surely I'm not alone; surely there are dozens of other machines out there that are begging to be tested under Haiku but for whatever reason haven't gotten the chance. I wonder how many critical issues might be uncovered if Haiku could be tested on them. Regards, Jonathon ________________________________ From: openbeos-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:openbeos-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Karl vom Dorff Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 5:17 PM To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [openbeos] Bootable Test CD Hi, I've submitted a bootable test CD <http://www.haikuware.com/view-details/development/app-installation/haiku-bo otable-alpha-test-cd> at Haikuware and have had a lot of comments about it. Some for, and some against. I take the side that the software might be good for developers who don't want to bother setting up a build environment, download the entire source, and then compile it and figure out why there's isn't an *.iso etc. They just burn it, test it, and maybe as a result submit patches or fixes to Haiku. Or, maybe users might have the same issue, and later submit bug reports or add their hardware to our hardware database. The other side is that Haiku should release a demo CD when Haiku is ready because it might give a false impression to users/critics. I believe I've read and understood the BSD/MIT license correctly, and it says that the software can be freely distributed/altered etc. but I don't want to cause any rifts. So, I'd like to know how the developers feel. I can easily remove the software if suggested/required.