Thoughts please: 4.54.4 as a stable?

[David Lee]

On Thu, 25 May 2006, Julian Field wrote:

> Given the problems with 4.53.8, should I change the latest stable
> release to 4.54.4?
> I am not intending to do a June release, unless people think that is a
> better solution to the 4.53 problem.
>
> A new stable or the current beta-->stable?
>
> Your thoughts please!

>From the user perspective the label "stable" signals reliability, and
freedom from bugs (so far as is reasonably practicable).  Likewise the
label "beta" signals caution, 'own risk', and possible known-and-unfixed
problems.  We, the users, need to be able to trust those labels ("stable",
"beta")  and, crucially, their implied signals about production-quality
reliability.

(What follows is intended as constructive!)  My understanding is that
4.53.y, which bears the label "stable", in fact has some serious problems
and so is actually unstable in use.  Whereas 4.54.x, which bears the
cautionary label "beta" is, in practice, more reliable (production
quality).  (Is that understanding correct?)  If so, then the labelling
("stable", "beta") becomes open to question (untrustworthy, even?) and
casts a shadow of doubt over the trust we can place in the MS product
that we download.

Knowing that the label "stable" means reliable is, to my mind, much more
important than release schedules.  Aiming at a regular schedule is nice.
But having the label "stable" mean reliable is absolutely essential.

So... 4.53.x or 4.54.x ?  My vote is that the "stable" link should point
to the most reliable.  And I understand that to be 4.54.x .

Hope that helps.


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