The latest release candidate for SUSE Linux OSS 10.1, RC2, has been released. “I’m glad to announce SUSE Linux 10.1 Codename ‘Agama Lizard’ RC2. We have fixed the majority of bugs from RC1 and will release an RC3 next week. During the RC phase, we only provide delta ISOs of the media and update the factory tree as well.”
We’ve all witnessed the inordinate number of betas SUSE 10.1 has been through and I think I understand the logic given its extremely rapid development pace. However, I don’t quite understand the Release Candidate strategy. To my way of thinking, a release “candidate” is something that would not have any known bugs because it is a, well, a candidate for release. So why not just continue the beta’s until we have a real release candidate, i.e., with no known major bugs, so that folks like me who have been so patient and careful not to be tempted to hose my work machine (again) can try it out?
This is a question not a complaint!
One possible explanation could be that starting from RC1 SUSE 10.1 is reasonably stable (in my experience), while up to beta9 it had tons of bugs.
But then maybe the meaning of alpha, beta and RC have been redifined in this case.
cause if it had no bugs, it where final. Realease candidate means that, that is candidate for final release, unless there are some more bugs/problems, in that case another release canidate can be released.
What the above poster is saying is that a Release Candidate should indeed have NO KNOWN BUGS. The SUSE team are doing their releases very oddly, it seems to me these release candidates have just been more betas, they just jumped to call them RCs becuase people were already talking about the huge quantity of beta releases, I’m not complaining either, I am all for rigorous testing but their way of doing their releases is getting a little annoying.
What the above poster is saying is that a Release Candidate should indeed have NO KNOWN BUGS.
That’s impossible, considering even the final release will have known bugs.
Not having known bugs is not the same as not having bugs.
Not having known bugs is not the same as not having bugs.
Precisely. There’s absolutely no excuse for a release candidate when you have a core component that is known to still be broken (package management) but with the expectation that it should be fixed in time for final.
If it takes an extra month to get the freaking thing working properly, then take an extra month but do not under any circumstances rush it out the door and rely on updates and patches to get it working down the road.
Other than that, I still think 10.1 is an outstanding release. And judging from what I’ve seen in the mailing lists, the team has learned some lessons from this one.
I hope Novell has too, since it was predominantly their “influence” that led to breaking feature freeze and stuffing in a brand new and untested core technology into the mix.
The final release will have known and unknown bugs.
The releases are the result of a wise statement told to every programmer when they first learn to write code. At first it is a pretty insignificant statement, but when you grow up as a developer you’ll learn to live by it for better or worst.
“Code a little, Test a lot”
I’m actaully trying to do an internet install of RC1 and then upgrade to RC2. I can’t seem to find any info on installing it over the internet. Can ayone help? I need to know a correct directory structure, I get a 404 on the one I’m using…
This directory works fine in my experience:
ftp://ftp4.gwdg.de/pub/linux/suse/apt/SuSE/10.1-i386
But then I have never tried a SUSE FTP install.
How about downloading CD1, performing a minimal install, and then with apt and/or smart upgrading and installing everything else?
What comes with a minimal install? Also, I thought apt was no longer supported by SUSE (or is that Red Hat?). That sounds much better than downloading all those CD’s. I recently installed SUSE 10.0, and I am quite impressed. As a Debian fan, I think I may have found my new OS of choice (maybe).
Apt is still there, but Smart seems to work better (Smart uses the apt repos, but it needs to be configured)
As to what you get if you install with just CD1, I am having trouble finding more info. I know for sure that with CDs 1-3 you can install a KDE or Gnome based system (or both), because that is what I did.
I’ll have a go myself and I’ll report a bit later.
So there are 2 kinds of minimal installs: graphical and not. I tried the first one. It comes with FVWM (ugh!) and alas it needs 90 MB of CD2. It is reasonable to assume that the non graphical one needs only 1 CD.
The openSUSE roadmap (http://en.opensuse.org/Roadmap) does not mention a RC3, which is in the above announcement. The roadmap also lists 25 April as the intended release date. Anybody heard anything about the revised release date?
Gary,
You’re correct in the release date for the final release of SUSE Linux 10.1. As per the OpenSUSE.org developer roadmap URL http://en.opensuse.org/Roadmap there is no mention of any RC 3.0 due to the final version is going to be released on or shortly after 04/25/06.
Edited 2006-04-22 22:05
1) Is there any way to download the RC1 ISOs and apply the deltas in Windows?
OR
2) Is it possible to pause and resume an internet install?
Basically, I want to install it on my laptop in Parallels in Windows. I tried the internet install, but when I suspended the VM yesterday and restarted it today, it didn’t pick up again.
how do you upgrade from 10.0?