[libreoffice-users] Comments on pdf file size in 4.4 alpha; and a new bug?

Hi:

I'm using 64 bit Ubuntu 14.04 with a parallel installation of LibreOffice
Version: 4.4.0.0.alpha2+
Build ID: d273a60bfdbf9bb7623bed38667ec0647753157c - TinderBox:
Linux-rpm_deb-x86_64@46-TDF, Branch:master, Time: 2014-11-20_03:05:21 -
Locale: en_US

I installed this in parallel with my 4.3 installation mostly because of
having been burned so many times in the past by new bugs, but the recent
commentary on what are apparently "fixes" to the pdf export function
compelled me to try this alpha just to see; I often need to transfer pdfs of
documents and reducing sizes is important. (I often wondered why the files
were so huge, but never thought to question the sizes)

I can confirm that the 4.4 alpha does indeed produce significantly smaller
pdf sizes with (as far as I can tell) the same quality as earlier versions
have produced.

BUT - as usual, there is a huge caveat ... When I first tested this, I
thought that perhaps the smaller size resulted from the fact that Writer
just left out quite a few of my graphics, which didn't appear in the pdf. A
little further exploration, however, showed that they were not visible in
the document either, although were in fact still there - just hidden under
totally (and newly) opaque frames. Thinking that maybe this was a result of
some sloppy formatting on my part, I changed a few of the frames to 100%
transparency - permitting the graphic, which was already marked as "on top"
to be displayed in Writer and saved the file (yes - under a new name - I
have used betas before). I generated a new pdf and - viola - the graphics
whose frames I had "fixed" showed up in the pdf.

However, when reloading the document, all of the frames were again totally
opaque. To cut this short, I checked and changed the style for frame
contents to 100% transparency, but that did made no difference in the
results.

So, as they say (or paraphrase), the developers giveth and the developers
taketh away.

Which brings up an interesting and related question ... On the "most
annoying bugs for 4.3 section (under DEV), there are several comments where
a moderator (?) chastised several folks for posting about 4.2 bugs, although
the submitters all seemed to be reporting 4.2 bugs that were still present
(and annoying at least to them) in 4.3. This is confusing to me, and I can't
quite figure out what the development process is. I poked around, but all
the discussions I've run across are not at all clear. Is there a description
somewhere about how all this works?

My questions - in no particular order - are:

Why would a bug that is annoying in one version (e.g. 4.2 above) not be
given some sort of priority or at least inclusion in a later version's (e.g.
4.3) list?

Is there any form of regression testing involved in assessing bug fixes?

Are these "versions" treated as separate "forks" and handled by separate
developers?

How do "fixes" in one version make their way into other versions? And how
are dependent "fixes" tracked to insure that something that fixes one branch
doesn't improve but still break a different branch?

I guess my overall observation based on using LO since somewhere in the
early 3.x versions is that every time some bug that annoys me (or precludes
me from being able to use earlier documents without having to tweak the heck
out of them) is "cured," some other feature that previously worked just fine
becomes broken.

I'm not trying to be a wet dish rag here - and I certainly appreciate the
level of work involved, but I can't help but suspect that there is some
issue with the PROCESS of development and testing when these sorts of things
continue to happen. That's why I'd like to understand more about the whole
process.

Thanks for listening ...




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