Peter
We certainly need to be fully tested on at least one OS. If we can do two
then presumably they should not just be two Linux flavours - in which case
this implies Solaris plus some flavour of Linux. The Linux flavour
presumably being determined by the sites.
...David
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter W. Draper [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 November 2003 16:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The future of RedHat
On Mon, 3 Nov 2003, Giaretta, DL (David) wrote:
> I guess it depends what you mean by support.
>
> The argument in the past (Martin) was that "proper" support is very
> expensive and so we can only do it with lots of effort and several
machines
> per OS.
>
> We _have_ to be much more flexible now. Is this at all realistic?
>
> My guess is that this will be sustainable only on the assumption that
there
> are no horrible system dependencies in the software - which given that it
is
> pretty solid on 2 OSes currently is probably a reasonable assumption.
>
> Given that, then it would lead one to say that we support the software and
> that we expect run-time bugs will be generic ones i.e. will probably
happen
> under several/all OSes. Build-time problems will, after configure is
sorted
> out, be expected to be few and far between.
>
> All the above is applicable to Starlink classic. For the most part the
Java
> code should be reasonably secure - as long as an appropriate JDK/JRE is
> available.
>
> There are several oversimplifications here, but unless the above is
broadly
> true then we are in trouble.
>
> Can anyone see any show stoppers?
The main problem with lightweight testing is user perception. I suspect
this is where we'll be caught between a rock and a hard place. Our
long-time users will expect what they've had, robust reliable software
that works on a limited number of OSes, and newer (dare I say younger)
users will expect us to be as reliable and flexible as any other free
software.
So, I'd say keep our existing strategy of two "fully supported" OSes, and
make it clear the rest, or what people do for themselves, are supported by
"best efforts" only.
Peter.
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