FC3 disappointment: KsCD locks system; grip; CDROM in general.

[Kim Lux]

Fedora Core 3 is an outstanding OS except for a few (sometimes very big)
flaws.  

I've got big problems with KsCD, CDROM access in general and grip.
There were messages on the list about uDev problems with CDROMs before
the release.  Why did we announce a big FC3 release when these problems
weren't fixed ?  I fear that this sort of thing gives Linux in general a
big fat black eye 

CDROM access:  CDROM access on my computers has been iffy ever since
upgrading to FC3 (ie FC3t3, FC3rc3, FC3rc5, FC3 Final.)  Clicking CDROM
in devices in KDE's File Manager used to give me mounting error
messages, but I used to be able to mount CDROMs manually.  With FC3
Final, I have absolutely no CDROM access.  I cannot eject a CDROM
without rebooting.  Needless to say, this is a big pain.  I think this
is entirely unacceptable in a final release. 

KsCD: has always been a troublesome app.  It will now lock my machine up
entirely if I play a CD with scratches on it.  Either KsCD needs to be
fixed or it shouldn't ship with Fedora anymore.  How can we keep shiping
an application that is so buggy ?  I've hated KsCD since RH8 for issues
where it locks up the computer or interferes with other devices needing
access to the CDROM.    

grip: is now totally incapacitated.  It crashes with a segmentation
fault at start up.  The first day I installed FC3, it ripped half a
dozen CDs very well.  Then it hit a CD with scratches and it has gone
into some sort of loop that it can't get out of, not even with
rebooting.

While I am very happy with FC3 in general, I am very disappointed with
the fact that these large problems remained in a final version.  I know
there was pressure for the team to keep up with the schedule, but was it
worth shipping a distro that is now going to cause a lot of people a lot
of headaches ?

I've got mixed feelings about the whole Fedora effort.  I'm not sure
that its mandate is in sync with users.  Is its focus on producing a
good, stable, usable distro for everyday use by run of the mill Linux
users or is it to push out Linux technology ASAP so that it gets
tested ?  

I guess I've got the feeling that FC3 went out the door a bit early and
could have used another 2 weeks of testing and bug fixes.  I'm sure that
the team adhered to the "it doesn't wreck any data" criteria, but I
think there are a few areas in FC3 that should have been polished a bit
more before it went out the door. 

I've got a suggestion: I think that Fedora should continue its "bleeding
edge" mentality and that it should strive to ship 2-3 releases a year.
However, I think there should be sub releases in between releases that
do nothing but make the previous release perfect.

For example, I think the team should start working on a Fedora 3.1
release that fixes CDROM access, sound and a few other issues that seem
to remain in this release.  The goal should be a near perfect release
before the team focuses on Fedora Core 4.  CDROM access will need to be
fixed prior to FC4, so why not gather that and other fixes and put them
in another release ?

-- 
Kim Lux (Mr.)  Diesel Research Inc