Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: upgrade path?

________________________________
From: webmaster for Kracked Press Productions <webmaster@krackedpress.com>
To: users@libreoffice.org
Sent: Thu, 26 May, 2011 2:15:32
Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: upgrade path?

On 05/25/2011 08:30 PM, NoOp wrote:
> On 05/25/2011 03:21 PM, Cor Nouws wrote:
> > Tom Davies wrote (25-05-11 23:53)
> > > Lol.
> > Lol too
> >
> > > http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleasePlan
> > Release cycle of 6 months, does mean in our case approximately 6-7
> > releases a year.
> ...
>
> No. It means the "final" releases are (I suspect) in sync with Ubuntu
> releases:
>
> <quote>
> Synchronizing our time based release schedule with the wider Free
> Software ecosystem also has huge advantages, by getting our new
> features, out to users as quickly as possible - with a minimum of
> distribution cycle lag. In consequence, we will aim at six monthly
> releases, and over time nudge them to align well with the March /
> September norms.
> </quote>
>
> Seems to indicate that LO are bending over to Ubuntu/<possibly other
> distro>  release schedules. Let's see... Ubuntu releases are April (hence
> the LO March time) and October (hence the LO September time)...
>
> This was quite apparent with the LO 3.3.2 "release" in sync with Ubuntu
> Natty 11.04 with considerable breakage/bugs still in LO 3.3. Please tell
> me that I'm wrong.
well 3.4 is scheduled to be out around June 1st.  We are on RC2 right now.

3.3.0 was LO's first release version and it came out before OOo did and was 
better, plus a lot of legacy coding was fixed.  Every release has some of that 
old, unused, bad, or clunky coding repaired, replaced, etc., so future edits 
would not be dependent on the old legacy stuff not messing up the new stuff.  
Sun and Oracle both had that problem.  LO's developers do not have the problem 
of "wasting" man-hours on fixing code that was not done properly in the first 
place.  Our developers both started cleaning up the legacy coding and put out a 
better product than Oracle did, plus beat them to the release date.  This is not 
our statements, but tech publication reviews and articles stating this.

As for trying to have our releases timed with repository upgrading?  Well it may 
be something for the scheduling people to use for getting dates.  It does take 
time to get the release packages listed on the LibreOffice download sites to be 
"converted" for repository updating/upgrading cycles.  I do not know how much 
time it would take, but 3.3.0 came out in the beginning of the year, and then a 
few months later Ubuntu and others announced that they will add LibreOffice 
3.3.x to their repositories and then drop OOo as their default installed office 
suite.

As for "still having bugs"; well 99% of all software for the PC market has bugs 
in their release versions.  No one can find them all.  Some are found by 
accident due to weird interaction with specific data or actions created by a 
user.  We are no better, and hopefully no worse, than other software developers 
when it comes to bugs.  Of course, we do not charge you to buy our software and 
do its best to own up to any bugs found, unlike some companies that most of us 
know and hate.  Open Source software may seem to some as having more bugs than 
their paid alternatives, but the open source community are more open about these 
things and will not tell you that you are at fault and not their high priced 
software.  This openness also makes it easier to find the cause of the bug and 
get it fixed faster and better.

As for fixed schedules for software releases????
If the developers have version 3.4.4 list of work finished a month early, they 
could start the RC process early, and not wait.  So people could see a new 
version/update out quicker than schedules, or if problems arise even have it out 
later.  3.4 was originally due out mid May, but it will be late May or first 
thing in June.  No big deal.  Of course we are not waiting for the Fall to 
introduce the 3.4 version and keeping the 3.3.x numbers going and going till 
then.

That is my opinion - what is yours?


Hi :)
The devs seem determined to do a lot of work really quite fast and seem to have 
a back-log of work they are keen to do.  From the wiki it seems that they plan 
to calm down a bit at some point in the next year or so but until then we can 
enjoy the benefits of having lots of recent stable releases along with lots of 
beta testing for those that like to stay ahead and do something for the 
community while working at outside interests or paid work.So, stick with a 
stable release if that's easier or keep getting the latest if you enjoy that, 
either way is refreshingly possible right now :)
Regards from
Tom :)

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