Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: LibreOffice Still?

On 8/6/2014 10:55 AM, Paul wrote:

> But that doesn't change the fact that the concept of an LTS version has nothing to do with the 
> business deals behind it.

Yes, and no.

As a general rule, Long Term Support is a direct function of
business/corporate support. (Debian is probably the best known example
of an entity that provides Long Term Support versions of software it
maintains, but not commercial support for that software.)

The major users of LTS versions of software are corporate entities. It
is not uncommon for those organizations to test software for three to
six months, prior to deploying it throughout the organization. Once
deployed, the expectation is that it will be used for at least three
years, with five to ten years being not uncommon.  In extreme cases, the
software remains in use for 15+ years after original deployment.  (I'm
aware of one firm that retired its "mission critical software" three
years ago. That software was written for MS-DOS 3.31, and would not run
on any later version of MS-DOS, nor on competitors, such as PC-DOS,
DrDos, and 4Dos.)

Were LibreOffice to offer an LTS version, then it would have to be
supported for at least one year, and probably two or three years. With
six months between versions, companies simply don't have the time tofix
the things that the new version breaks.

My recommendation would be:
* Bleeding edge development: Nightly Build: This version will physically
destroy your system. You have been warned. The Document Foundation is
not responsible for the resulting destruction;
* Beta: Version 4.5.x: This version will destroy your data. If that is
not an issue for you, then use it, because it has all the bells,
whistles, and bugs in it. The Document Foundation not responsible for
your data loss, or any other loss you suffer, by using this version;

* Stable:  Version 4.4: This is the current version. Some of the bugs
have been removed, but it has all of the current bells and whistles;
* LTS: Version 4.0: This version may lack bells and whistles, but most
of the bugs have been removed. Bug fixes are deliberately incorporated
into this version. New bells and whistles are deliberately omitted from
this version;

I am deliberately tying the LTS version to increments in the major
version number. (I don't remember the criteria for incrementing the
major version number, and a search of the LibO site doesn't come up with
anything.)(LTS status is granted when version 5.1.0 is released, rather
than 5.0.0.)

###

As far as "fresh" and "still" go, the terms are utterly meaningless to
people both within and without the LibreOffice community. So
meaningless, that people will skip the product, and search for something
that they understand, without having to consult a dictionary. (The
definitions at _Urban Dictionary_ are enough to convince hesitant users
that none of these versions are safe to install.)

Replace the terms with the version numbers. Whilst people might not
understand the difference, they will see that one is 4.20, and the other
is 4.3.0.

jonathon
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