breaking freezes and "last minute-itus"

[Tom Davies]

Hi :)
I think before making a request people need to consider whether their request is really so vital that it's worth delaying the release of the 12.10, and creating a lot more work for everyone.  

It's good to see people have such passion for their work that they are prepared to argue so strongly for their part in the huge project.  However, would it really hurt for some of them to "stand down" for a month or so and then get their change into the 11.04?  If they could wait a little then the quality of the way it's handled by subsequent processes would be increased.  

Consider how many news articles you read that are full of speculation about what might happen.  Compare against the number of news articles that grab your attention about what happened a long time ago.  Fro example, with film releases.  Magazines have endless articles BEFORE a release giving tantalising glimpses of what might be in the film and the lives&loves of actresses, actors and others involved in the film.  After the film the articles drop-off fast and relate to boring stats about hoiw much money it made (or didn't) and how many people went to see it on opening night.  Try finding an article in a new magazine about a film released say 1 or 2 months ago.  No-one cares after the fact.  At least not in a positive way.  

By rushing in at the last minute (or even later) you consign your work to the "no-one cares anymore" category before they have even seen it.  MUCH better to deliberately hold back.  LET articles slate how 'badly' you did your work in this release (chances are it wasn't erally sooo bad and might even appear  quite good to people that haven't seen you new version).  Then push your request at the beginning of the next cycle to let people work on showing it off.  Make a press-release about it.  Get people writing articles that talk about it or at least mention it.  Write to anyone that you noticed grumbling so they have an excuse to get a new article published talking about the remarkable turn-around.  

It might seem exciting to you to get it in at the last minute but to everyone else it's a Pita and a bore.  If your work is boring then sure, push it at the last minute instead of waiting for the next cycle.  


The questions for each person making a request (imo) are
1.  is it worth delaying the release of Ubuntu and are you willing to help all the subsequent teams deal with side-issues such as checking translations in hundreds of languages? 
2.  is it so important that you don't care if no-one out in the world (outside the ubuntu teams)  ever really notices the changes?

Regards from
Tom :)  


--- On Wed, 19/9/12, Kate Stewart <kate.stewart at canonical.com> wrote:

From: Kate Stewart <kate.stewart at canonical.com>
Subject: 12.10 Documentation String Freeze --> Sept. 25, 2012
To: ubuntu-doc at lists.ubuntu.com, ubuntu-translators at lists.ubuntu.com
Cc: ubuntu-release at lists.ubuntu.com
Date: Wednesday, 19 September, 2012, 23:16

Dear Documentation and Translation teams,

  Given some of the VERY late landing code with key features that
impacts the IDEs for 12.10,  holding to a documentation string freeze
date [1] of 9/20 just doesn't make sense.  To give enough window for
getting the latest features in screen shots and documented,  we'll be
resetting the documentation deadline to next Tuesday 9/25 [3].

This is going to unfortunately cut down on the time available for
translations [2].   To keep everyone efficient,  David will send out an
email tomorrow summarizing what is unlikely to change, and what
translations should not start on until after the Documentation String
Freeze[1] occurs.

Thanks for your cooperation and patience as we work through this.

Kate

[1] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DocumentationStringFreeze
[2] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TranslationDeadline
[3] https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QuantalQuetzal/ReleaseSchedule



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