But I didn't think they'd finished it...

[Matt Zimmerman]

On Tue, Mar 01, 2005 at 10:40:52AM +0000, Neil Woolford wrote:

> At 02:27 01/03/05, Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> >That's just as bad, because we make a release which we call our
> >"preview", and we haven't released that yet either.
> 
> So I take it that this is entirely Linux Magazine's work, without
> consulting the Ubuntu team.  The joys of open development :-( .

That's correct.  They've taken a snapshot of Hoary, labelled it "Ubuntu
5.04" and released it to the public.  The same thing has happened to other
projects in the past, notably Debian.  It's often unclear to third parties
why we use the terminology that we do.

> Given the lead time on producing a disc, and the fact that this one must
> now be in the distribution channels to reach UK shops this Friday, this is
> likely to be based one of the 'array' releases from some weeks back.  That
> means array four or five at the very latest, being a snapshot at late
> January or mid February.  In the worst case it could be even earlier.  At
> best it is an image after the feature freeze, at worst not.
> 
> To fill the DVD (not CD) I assume lots of things from the repositories
> have been added.  These also may or may not be current versions.

They could very well have downloaded one of our bi-weekly DVD snapshot
images, which is unfortunate because these are fully automated builds which
do not receive regular testing.

> Might it be worth *preparing* to make a clear public statement if there
> are problems with the version on this DVD?  The thing looks official
> enough that any problems with it would reflect badly on the project.
> (Printed and packed DVD versus a CD with the version number written on by
> hand...)
> 
> The developers won't have time to do it at the moment, but knowledgeable
> users should be casting an eye over it for problems as soon as it is
> available, then if there are problems the damage could be limited a bit.

We have gotten in contact with someone at the magazine and are attempting to
limit the negative effects.

-- 
 - mdz