[openbeos] Re: news: development mailing list, distro guidelines

  • From: Simon Taylor <simontaylor1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 20 May 2007 16:56:21 +0000

> 
> From: "Urias McCullough" <umccullough@xxxxxxxxx>

> > > > "This CD is based on pre-release Haiku code. The Haiku project will 
> > > > release an official distribution of the OS when it is ready. For 
> > > > information about the official Haiku project, please visit 
> > > > http://haiku-os.org.
> > > > This software is work in progress and has missing functionality as well 
> > > > as many (known and unknown) bugs. Use at your own risk.
> > > > We are not affiliated with Haiku, do not contact them for support."
> > >
> > > That's very interesting - marketing to developers and technical users
> > > with a demo CD and then treating them like average users... That seems
> > > like an effective way to turn away potential developers.
> >
> > Sorry, I just don't get that. I was demonstrating how the case Koki was 
> > talking about (pre-release CD for handing out at conferences) could be 
> > accommodated within the current guidelines. What do you mean by "treating 
> > them like average users" - just saying on the CD that it is pre-release 
> > code and won't necessarily be a good indication of the quality of the 
> > release? Surely that's a sensible thing to say, whether to developers or 
> > users?
> 
> I was mostly referring to that last line - it sounded harsh and
> unfriendly to me. Mostly just sounded like: "This is all we've got,
> it's not official, and don't bother contacting Haiku about it because
> they cant help you."

True, it does sound a little like that. I was trying to reduce the amount of 
text from the official guidelines to have something that could sensibly fit on 
a CD. It could be re-worded to say "No end-user support for this release will 
be provided - but contact Haiku if you are a developer wishing to help improve 
it!" or something along those lines.

> In any case, sorry for the disturbance. This is just one of the things
> that has bothered me in the recent months. I may not have any truly
> valid points, but it seems like a more "pushing" of the OS out to the
> public might be a good strategy right now - and the act of doing this
> should primarily be to encourage developers and the like to join the
> cause. I highly doubt it's going to hurt the Haiku brand if a few
> tech-savvy people hit a KDL here and there - especially when they know
> it's pre-alpha software.

You may be right. However in that case we should be discussing whether to 
produce an official pre-alpha demo release rather than whether or not to allow 
anyone "with good intentions" to slap the Haiku branding on whatever they 
produce.

Simon

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