how to get started with helping the project [...]

[Matthew Nuzum]

Josep L. Guallar-Esteve wrote:

>On Thursday 03 March 2005 15:04, Jim Popovitch wrote:
>  
>
>>On Thu, 2005-03-03 at 14:53 -0500, Josep L. Guallar-Esteve wrote:
>>    
>>
>>>Fedora Legacy is doing the best job that a limited commmunity like this
>>>can handle.
>>>
>>>Beliving or expecting anything else is unrealisticaly wrong.
>>>      
>>>
>>Put it on the website.  Make it a public statement, give it the teeth
>>you are giving it in this email rather than leaving it to remain buried
>>in the archives.
>>
>>-Jim P.
>>    
>>
>
>So , IMHO, there's no need to post every 2 sentences a discclaimer saying 
>"Warning! F.L.P. is not corporate-grade nor ISO9001! "
>  
>
There is still a great mis-understanding among the Linux community at 
large on this point. To many, FC == "RedHat Linux" and they are in 
denial that FC is bleeding edge, unsupported and will require frequent 
upgrades/reboots/bug fixes.

The full weight of what it means when an FC project is migrated to FL is 
lost to most.

I really wish people understood that:

    Fedora Core is a community based linux distribution that will be
    supported by the FC community for aproximately 9 - 10 months, at
    which point limited support for major security updates will be
    availble for another 9 - 10 months by the FL community. Only use FC
    if you plan on upgrading your system every 6 months and only count
    on FL to provide the absolute essential updates for a limited time
    after the FC release has been retired. Total support for a FC
    distribution will not exceed 18 months in most cases.

I really don't think it hurts to make it clear. People always get upset 
when their expectations have been let-down. Helping people get their 
expectations in line with reality can avoid a lot of hard feelings, IMHO.

It is my personal opinion, and I've been flamed for this before, that FL 
is only a transitional project. I think that when people realize FC is 
unsupported and that they should upgrade whenever a new version comes 
out, demand for FL will decrease. If a person/organization needs a 
supported distro that can be put in place for 1 - 5 years, FC is NOT the 
right choice. Anything that the FL community can do to make this point 
clear will be beneficial in the long term. (and will ensure that FL 
ceases to exist in another year or two)

FC == `uptime` < 270 days
FC + FL == `uptime` < 500 days
RHEL/SLES == `uptime` > 500 days

-- 
Matthew Nuzum <matt at followers.net>
www.followers.net - Makers of "Elite Content Management System"
View samples of Elite CMS in action by visiting
http://www.followers.net/portfolio/