[openbeos] Re: Bootable Test CD
- From: "Urias McCullough" <umccullough@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:23:59 -0700
On 25/03/2008, Michael Lotz <mmlr@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:17:18 -0400, Karl vom Dorff wrote
> > 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.
>
> I am sorry, but I find this a rather naive view. If a developer does want to
> give Haiku a try for the first time, then the harddisk images are way better
> to do this. That's probably also the reason why they are so easily available.
I have to agree with Michael on this point - true developers probably
won't find the LiveCD very useful, enticing, or otherwise thrilling.
It's boring. Developers will want to use the "real-deal". Where they
can alter some code, compile, and see their changes immediately on the
next boot. Or better yet - when they can recompile bits of Haiku from
within Haiku and see their changes immediately. Using LiveCDs for
development is HIGHLY unlikely.
For testing hardware compatibility, on the other hand, or giving a
quick demo of what Haiku looks like and how it works - a LiveCD is
somewhat useful. I imagine when I'll be able to whip out a Haiku
LiveCD while chatting with someone - pop it into their computer, and
give them a quick demo of what Haiku is. That day has not arrived yet.
The most important use of a LiveCD will be to use for installing Haiku
when that becomes a reality (which it hasn't yet).
For example, I gave a coworker a Haiku LiveCD the other day to test on
a couple of his machines at home - and all he reported back to me was
that none of them worked. Wow... what a let down. But, he's also seen
it running in action before on my laptop, however, so he knows it does
work in the proper circumstances.
If you're going to provide public LiveCDs - you have to assume (or
even hope) the people downloading them are likely not interested in
development of Haiku at this point. They're most likely going to be
eager individuals who want to see what the hype is about - or just see
if it runs on their hardware yet. And if it fails to run - when are
they likely to try it again? in a month? in a year?
So anyway, I say all this from a non-Haiku-developer position (even
though I do develop software for a living). Everything I say is of
course my own opinion, and even my opinion has changed somewhat over
the years to be more conservative about releasing Haiku to the public
en-masse. I think that using Haiku in VMWare is a much better
experience for someone who just wants to see what it's all about and
how it works.
Sorry for rambling :)
- Urias
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