Re: ice-9/getopt-long.scm + 1.5.1 please? + time-based 1.5.x?

[Thien-Thi Nguyen]

   From: Rob Browning <address@hidden>
   Date: 20 Aug 2001 18:08:15 -0500

   Well, the odd numbered releases aren't really for broad public
   consumption.  They're supposed to be our development, unstable
   releases.  The even numbered releases are the ones we'd like to see
   show up everywhere, in distributions, etc., and the ones we'd like
   for applications to be linked against.

   Further point releases of a stable series, i.e. 1.6.1, 1.6.2,
   etc. should be made whenever we encounter bugs in the stable release,
   but, as with the Linux kernel, changing the middle number from odd to
   even and placing the tarfiles on ftp.gnu.org is our indication to the
   users that we think it's OK for them to start transitioning their
   code and applications.

   I hope that makes more sense...

i think you understimate the power of enabling ordinary users to be beta
testers.  broad public consumption is the best way to get broad public
feedback, which is to be encouraged, not feared.  generally, i don't
believe it's wise (or even possible!) to decide for users what they are
ready to handle.

as an experiment, i've forwarded the 1.5.1 announcement to guile-user.
let's study where the bug reports come from (and their quality) -- i
suspect there will be a few from guile-user that might not have shown up
had we restricted announcement to the original recipient list.  IMHO,
future announcements should be sent to guile-user as a matter of course.

thi