About Gentoo 1.4...

pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20067

On reporting 'status' information, percentages aren't usually very good. High (or low) percentages can be misleading. I like how the OpenBeOS team decided to do their 'status' page.
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fmalabre · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 376 Location: Chicago

fmalabre · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 376 Location: Chicago

Mustard007 · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 12:43 am Post subject:

Hi !

I post this for the Gentoo Staff...

Can you inform us about the next release of Gentoo (1.4 and other) ??
Speculation is not very funny. I would like to say what will be inside of the new release, approx. out date, some news and info !!! , like some other distro.

I very like Gentoo, but we don't have a lot of news and info

I hope this will change !!

Thanks !!

markyd · n00b Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 44

I like most of the gentoo users, I am currently awaiting the next release of gentoo with baited breath. However, the developers have seen fit to remain silent as to when it will be released. The question is why?

This silence has lead to many a rumour about when v1.4 will finally be release; 1 Aug, 14 Aug, 16Aug, 1 Sept, 15 Sept to name a few. So we hold off a our installations/upgrade for a few more days, hoping that the next fabled release date will hold true, only to be disappointed when the release date passes without a word from the developers.

Whats actually funny is I remember one of the developers saying that they didn't what to have a product that was promised by a certain date, only to have it delayed (hence stringing the users on). However, this is exactly what they are achieving by remaining quiet.

Is it too much to ask to have an news post on a weekly basis to let us know that the statis of the release? I recall a post about 2 months again mentioning that they were in the "final" stages of testing the new release. Final would indicate near completion. Near completion would mean that we should have copys of 1.4 in our hands now. So a news update would be much appreciated.

Bettter yet, how about a page indicating what features have been added or are being worked on. Currently there are rumours mentioning a graphical install or that it will not use gcc 3.2, for instance.

Another request would be for a release candidate to be produced. Yes I know of the existance of the beta tarball but it has not been updated for well over a month. I would think that there have been developments since then.

Don't get me wrong I love gentoo. Its definately the best distro I have seen in a long while. Its just a pity that its development is handled so poorly. Mandrake is a prime example on how to keep the users informed to updates. This idling by the developers will only turn users away from gentoo.

Eagerly awaiting the vapour-ware "Gentoo 1.4"....

french tony · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 1:51 am Post subject:

I don't what the fuss is about. I am running 1.4, beta or not is 1.4 since it is up-to-date thanks to portage. it is as close as you'll from a candodate release AND the release

I'm fortunate enough to have enough disk space (40 gig). So I created a 4 gig partition, mounted it as /mnt/gentoo, downloaded the 1.4 tarball, and followed the install instruction, untar the 1.4 tarball, and installed the whole base system from within X on a 1.2 gentoo.
What more would you want?
next time I need to do a clean install, I format the 1.2 partition, and follow the same procedure.
virtually no down time.

masseya · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:12 am Post subject:

I don't know what all the fuss is about Gentoo 1.4 being released because 1.2 works just fine. I'm most happy for the portage system. It's about time someone created a really good from-source distro for Linux. Whether or not it's got gcc 3.2 or gcc 2.95.3 isn't all that big a deal. Plus, it seems like everything that's highly anticipated is going to be late relative to the person who's anticipating it. Just look at video games..

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fmalabre · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 376 Location: Chicago

masseya · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:38 am Post subject:

I guess a better way of saying it is, "Oh my gosh! How did we ever live without a 20% speed gain?"

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fmalabre · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 376 Location: Chicago

phong · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:44 am Post subject:

Wow, people are getting pretty worked up over this! I've GOTTA come to the defense of the developers here. I do recall that there was only one time when anyone gave any sort of timeframe for the release (the Linuxworld expo), and that was contingient on gcc 3.2 final being released AND not breaking too much. The gcc release was pushed back a bit, which delayed any testing, fixing, etc., and from what I see (having used gcc 3.1, 3.1.1, 3.2_pre and 3.2) there were some changes (i.e. 3.2 wasn't just 3.1.1 with C++ ABI fixes as it was originally going to be).

People have mentioned the new Mandrake RC1 with gcc 3.2, and I think there is a RedHat beta using 3.2, but by my count Gentoo has had at least 4 betas/release candidates using the gcc 3.x series (1.3a, 1.3b, 1.4_beta and the "hidden" .1.4), and IIRC was the first major distribution with gcc 3.x available as the default compiler. The next release is certainly a final non-beta release of 1.4. I'd bet cash money that Gentoo will be the first major distro with gcc 3.2 in a non-prerelease release (if you can parse that).

If you're too anxious to wait for 1.4 final, lots of people are having a great time running the 1.4 betas, and I myself am running the hidden .1.4 with zero problems (OK, a couple problems, but they were all my fault, and were non-serious).

As far as 1.4 features - I think a shift from gcc 2.95x to the 3.x series is MORE than enough for a whole minor revision number. Heck, with Redhat a gcc version change usually shifts a whole MAJOR revision number IIRC. If there's something more I'd be kinda (pleasantly) surprised and call it gravy.
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masseya · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 2:56 am Post subject:

I guess what I'm really saying is that there's really no huge, all-consuming need to immediately have gcc 3.2 and gentoo 1.4 (like right now). They are working on getting it out in a reasonable time frame, but more importantly they want it to be done right. I like what phong said. He was very eloquent. It's not like we're running 386's here either, but at the same time if it's really all that important I would think that most people who absolutely have to have a 20% speed increase could simply go out and buy better hardware to achieve that end because most people are not running on the latest and greatest hardware. Even if you are running brand new stuff, if you have to have that speed up and there's no room for error go out and get a dual-processor system or buy a few systems and setup a beowulf cluster.
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if i never try anything, i never learn anything..
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fmalabre · Guru Joined: 19 Jun 2002 Posts: 376 Location: Chicago

Mustard007 · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:08 am Post subject:

Hi !

For me, is not a question of "what is the out date of 1.4" but more an info and news problem. I use now the hidden .1.4 version.

I would like to say what will be included in the next release, what is the supposed due date, what will be the major addition. And, what projects is in the table now ?? (graphical installer, anything...).

I think the home Gentoo News page have to be more often updated and maybe a creation of a new "Projects News" will be appreciated.

It's a suggestion, but i hope you (the staff) will do sometings to remediate this lack.

Gentoo Linux is very cool, and is my OS.

Thanks !

Danny.

phong · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:13 am Post subject:

masseya · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:15 am Post subject:

hubick · n00b Joined: 23 Jul 2002 Posts: 8

I'm a C++ programmer, and as such telling me the difference between GCC 2 and 3 isn't that big a deal is like telling most users that the difference between Gnome 2 and the command line isn't that big a deal!

masseya · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 3:26 am Post subject:

As much as I like Gnome that's not too far off..

Seriously though, from a developer standpoint there would certainly be a big difference, but the Gentoo crew has posted several beta versions of 1.4 where a developer (any developer, not just a gentoo developer..) can access it and use it. From a user standpoint there's really not a big difference and certainly not something that would require wailing and nashing of teeth.
_________________
if i never try anything, i never learn anything..
if i never take a risk, i stay where i am..

markyd · n00b Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 44

Seriously, who wants to spend a weekend installing gentoo when its going to be outdated possibly a few days? It would seem like a waste of time to me. Thats the main reason people are getting frustated with waiting. I guess I'm not the only one who feels like this as I see an increasing number of threads about 1.4's release date.

For those out there who state that there will only be a portage tree difference between 1.4beta and 1.4, then think again. In previous releases of gentoo many hacks have been required, in some cases, to "upgrade" a old version to the latest.

klieber · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:34 am Post subject:

For anyone who wants to know Gentoo 1.4's release date, here is the definitive way to find out:

First, identify all the bugs in 1.4, including the ones that haven't been found yet. This should be very easy to do.
Next, triage those bugs to determine which ones are release critical.
Figure out what is causing those bugs in the first place. Again, this should take 5-10 minutes tops.
Figure out how many hours are needed from the dev team to solve those bugs.
Get a solid, unbreakable commitment from the entire dev staff on the amount of time they can contribute to Gentoo over the next few weeks. Never mind the fact that many of them are just starting school -- they obviously need to readjust their priorities.
Create a simple gantt chart to forecast the completion date

And viola! You have a guaranteed release date for 1.4. Sounds really easy, doesn't it?

--kurt
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Chris Hickman · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 12:14 pm Post subject:

klieber · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 12:34 pm Post subject:

sulu · Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2002 12:56 pm Post subject:

Now klieber, dont get angry with us "impatient-pain-in-the-neck-users". ;-)

Were are just all eagerly awaiting this 1.4-release.

And a tiny little announcement like
"Hi folks.
Due too problems with gcc-3.2 the 1.4 final is not to be expected before 30.09.2002!"
would be appreciated.

So long
Sulu