On Wednesday 14 May 2008 07:13:44 Stephen Davies wrote:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/05/13/ubuntu_linux_synchronization/
>
> My take on this is that this idea is frankly silly.
> Why?
> The current staggered releases tht come from the major distros is a
> great example of a continuous improvement system.
> For example ( and this is an example and no criticism of any distros is
> intended)
> Debian releases a new version in say March 09.
> After release it is discovered that there is a major problem with say
> 'ssh'.
> All the other releases pick up on the security alert and make sure
> they are not exposed.
> Then RedHat release a RHEL Respin (say 5.2) that incorporates the ssh
> changes
> After is release, a problem was found with the ext4 libraries.
> A fix is generates and all the other distros pick up that fix.
> Etc etc etc.
>
> Now if all the releases were sync'd to come out in timeframe of say 1
> month then we start heading for
> 1) Internet traffic jams as all the downloading your fav distros happens
> in a shorter timeperiod
> 2) Less chance for critical bugs to get picked up by other distros
> before they release
> 3) then all the major distros release the same set of patches within a
> short time period.
>
> Which leads us towards what currently happens with Microsoft and their
> 'Patch Tuesday' method or update distribution.
> What happens if the patch for some critical problem affect quite a lot
> of systems (sorta like applying XP SP3 to an HP PC...)
> If this is all done with a 'big bang' approach then I see more
> repatching needed.
>
> Personally, I think that the principle of continuous improvement is a
> great way to develop software. IMHO, this seems to fly in the face of
> that principle.
>
> What do you guys think?
> Stephen D
Maybe Mark is just thinking that if all the latest Distros were released
within the same month then it would make it a lot easier to compare spec and
performance. Then from *buntu point of view he could turn round and say "mine
is better than yours"
Tim
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