But I didn't think they'd finished it...

[Neil Woolford]

At 02:27 01/03/05, Matt Zimmerman wrote:

>On Mon, Feb 28, 2005 at 08:36:09PM +0000, Neil Woolford wrote:
>
> > A friend has just forwarded me an email from the publishers of Linux
> > Magazine, previewing issue 53,
> > which should be available from the 4th of March.
> >
> >
> > >----------------------------------------
> > >On the DVD: Ubuntu 5.04 "Hoary Hedgehog"
> > >----------------------------------------
> >
> > >http://www.linux-magazine.com/issue/53
> > >[Ubuntu 5.04 "Hoary Hedgehog"]
>
>:-(
>
>This is a drawback of announcing our version numbers in advance.
>
> > If you want to see the DVD artwork (with informative text) then go to
> >
> > http://www.linux-magazine.com/issue/53/Linux_Magazine_DVD_Inlay.pdf
> >
> > This I wasn't expecting just yet.  The text on the DVD artwork does say
> > it is a special preview version.
>
>That's just as bad, because we make a release which we call our "preview",
>and we haven't released that yet either.

So I take it that this is entirely Linux Magazine's work, without 
consulting the
Ubuntu team.  The joys of open development :-( .

Given the lead time on producing a disc, and the fact that this one must now be
in the distribution channels to reach UK shops this Friday, this is likely 
to be based
one of the 'array' releases from some weeks back.   That means array four 
or five at
the very latest, being a snapshot at late January or mid February.  In the 
worst case
it could be even earlier.  At best it is an image after the feature freeze, 
at worst not.

To fill the DVD (not CD) I assume lots of things from the repositories have 
been added.
These also may or may not be current versions.

So something well presented and 'official' looking is going to appear on 
newsstands
some days before the actual Hoary Hedgehog Preview is issued.  It is likely 
to have
bugs that are already fixed or being worked on, and may not even have 
exactly the
right feature set or the correct versions of packages from the 
repositories.  The fact
that it is dated April and has the right version number means that it could 
easily be
confused with the 'real thing'.

Might it be worth *preparing* to make a clear public statement if there are 
problems
with the version on this DVD?  The thing looks official enough that any 
problems with
it would reflect badly on the project.  (Printed and packed DVD versus a CD 
with
the version number written on by hand...)

The developers won't have time to do it at the moment, but knowledgeable users
should be casting an eye over it for problems as soon as it is available, 
then if there
are problems the damage could be limited a bit.

Neil 


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