Re: How do I switch to Sawfish??

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Sun, Sep 01, 2002 at 10:48:12PM -0600 or thereabouts, David A. Bartmess wrote:
> I have a feeling ( and I'm possibly wrong about this ) that Mandrake's
> 9.0 release had a lot to do with Gnome 2.0 being pushed out the door
> half complete. 

We didn't base Gnome 2 timing on any distro's timetables. I don't
think we knew actually any distro's timetables. If any of us did
know them, our communication is worse than I thought, because 
no-one told me :) 

(Although traditionally I believe major Gnome releases come out
just too late to get into RH releases. Damn. Slipped up there!)

> But I seriously look at this release like I would any new
> Windows release, in that it's incomplete, buggy as hell, and just not
> worth the trouble.
> I'm sorry to all the Gnome users, but this is why I left Windows behind,
> so that I didn't have to WORK to get a new release installed and running
> with ALL my previous apps.

Don't forget what Gnome 2 is/was. It was new libraries. Gnome 2.0
(2.0.0...) was basically "libraries and enough apps ported over
for developers to see how to do the rest". 

We could have released earlier with just the libraries, gnome-core, 
libgnome and gnome-utils done. We could have waited until Galeon, all 
the office apps and Evolution were ported. If we'd done the first, 
there would have been a lot of people wanting to try it and asking,
"What do you mean, there are no apps? Where's my file manager?" (or 
whatever). If we had done the second, we would still be waiting.

We had to pick _some_ point to reach to say "once these specifics 
are done and working, and the thing is not crashing, we'll release". 

Then we had to work out a date for when we thought that was likely
to happen. The date changed several times in response to how far
we'd got through the list.

> And before you flame me, look at my signature. I'm a Software
> Configuration Manager, someone who is responsible for making sure the
> software is complete, working correctly, and ready before issuing a
> release. So I've been through this, I know what deadlines are like, but
> I also know that unless it's ready, deadlines mean nothing. 

The first date I ever heard of for Gnome 2 was when it was mentioned
at the first GUADEC (Gnome Users And Developers European Conference)
in 2000, and the thought then was that it might be out at the
end of that year. If not then, then early 2001. I think I remember
five separate dates which were aimed at since then. 

So Gnome knows all about moving deadlines as it becomes necessary.
"October Gnome" was planned as a "September Gnome" once, no?
(That was Gnome 1.0.50.) Although 2.2 may be about the first which 
is specifically and avowedly time-based. Not feature-based.

Telsa