Testing test releases: do not update

[Robert P. J. Day]

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004, Mike A. Harris wrote:

...

> Test release of an OS snapshot, ie: "Fedora Core 2 test 1", is
> essentially a prebeta snapshot of the OS, which is very likely to
> be unstable.
> 
> In the past, there were private beta testers and approximately 3
> "alpha" releases that were generally not ready for public
> consumption, but needed wider testing than could be done
> internally.
> 
> With the opening up of OS development, and creation of the Fedora 
> Project, it was decided to make _all_ of the beta/alpha/whatever 
> you want to call it releases public and open.  The upside is that 
> there would be more testers this way.  The downside, is that 
> people who voluntarily test the first few initial test releases 
> without realizing that they are playing with fire, are likely to 
> end up with very broken systems, as "test1" is a very first test, 
> and is nowhere near "stable".  The warnings in the installer 
> should not be taken lightly.

and this is something that would have cleared up a *lot* of my confusion,
since it makes perfect sense.  but it does have one interesting
consequence.

since, in the past, RH internally did some level of testing before
releasing the first beta on the world, even that first beta was
surprisingly stable. and that meant that, despite the graphic warnings
that beta software might explode into flame, render you sterile or
possibly EAT ALL THE CHEESE IN YOUR HOUSE!, a lot of gung-ho folks threw 
caution to the winds, backed up their systems, and just installed it 
anyway.  and, barring the inevitable annoyances and broken pieces, things 
went fairly well and RH got a *lot* of bug reports from folks (myself 
included) that dived into the deep end.

but with the new release schedule, those warnings suddenly seem a lot more
meaningful.  it suggests that even those of us who want to jump right in
might want to wait until -test2 before installing to use on a 24x7 basis
and, until then, really have a separate system just for testing.

does it make sense to suggest that, in terms of stability, what used to be
the first beta release might be equivalent to something like a -test2
these days? not a criticism, just an observation, since it gives me a much 
better idea of what i should be doing in terms of testing.

rday