Comments: IN DEPTH: Fedora 10 Preview

[Paul W. Frields]

On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 02:17:53PM +0000, Jonathan Roberts wrote:
> > If "features" and "first" are hurting because of where we are in the
> > calendar compared to the Ubuntu release, allowing them the chance to release
> > their new distro first and to receive a lot of credit for new features when
> > reviewers and press don't understand where the upstream work is being done
> > (in Fedora, for example), then Fedora Marketing should ask the Fedora Board
> > to think about altering our "May Day" and "Halloween" release targets by a
> > little bit, so that Fedora's cycle finishes before Ubuntu's.
> 
> I don't know that this is necessary. I think in the last two release
> cycles (8 & 9) we made significant progress in tackling this, and
> looking around comments etc from the time, people were starting to
> recognise that Fedora was *the* distribution* for innovation. We just
> need to be more proactive in our shouting about features, much earlier
> in the release cycle (e.g. as soon as features start getting approved
> by FESCo, become vaguely testable).
> 
> Saying that, I don't think it would hurt to release at a seperate time
> to Ubuntu, as we're never going to compete with an end-user orientated
> distribution in various media outlets (even more technical ones give
> far less precedence to development than they do businesss
> deployments).

Moving our releases earlier also increases stress for stabilizing the
integration of new upstream packages that are also on time-based
release schedules.  In fact, I think it would have the opposite effect
intended and hurt Fedora on the aspect of stability.  We already have
to overcome a (IMHO mistaken) perception that Fedora is too rapidly
developed to be stable.

Our slightly later release this time around was mostly beyond our
control.  But there are some good side effects that have fallen out of
the later release, one of them being OpenOffice.org 3.0, which we're
the first distribution to feature.

I think that competing in release time with Ubuntu is probably not as
productive as spending more time talking about our features earlier in
the development cycle.  I think we improved that work substantially
during this release, and should continue to do so during the Fedora 11
cycle.

Press moves in long waves, and we shouldn't expect to see as a result
of these improvements Fedora suddenly springing to press prominence
over Ubuntu.  However, I've noticed a number of articles coming out
during our pre-release cycles, some of them concerning Ubuntu's
release, that point out the upcoming Fedora 10 as also having those
features.  That shows we're starting to have the effect we want.  Now
we need to redouble those efforts, to which I think Jon's also
alluding.

-- 
Paul W. Frields                                http://paul.frields.org/
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