Subject: Re: FVWM: [ANNOUCEMENT] fvwm 2.0.47 status and request for volunteers

From: [email-masked] (Paul D. Smith)
Date: 01 Jun 1998 13:34:52 -0400

%% Root of all Evil <[email-masked]> writes:

  : 1. A list of people who want to alpha test. Along with a name I want to know:

  roae> That is what fvwm-workers was created for. It was named after
  roae> "bind-workers" and others to do what you are suggesting. I guess
  roae> you are suggesting that fvwm-workers is too open of a list, and
  roae> gets used as the fvwm list on a regular basis...

I agree with this: even more important than an open development model is
an open testing model (IMO).

The fvwm-workers list is the right place to announce alpha tests.  Once
one is announced, everyone on the list who has the time and motivation
should grab and test it, and report success/failure to the author (or
even to the entire workers list).  It will be up to Brady to decide when
a release has had "enough" testing... if he doesn't feel that it has he
should goose the fvwm-workers list and get more people to check it, and
probably give an idea of what parts are light.  It's purely up to him to
decide what's "enough" testing, obviously.

Perhaps the current readership of the lists is too dispersed and needs
to be retargeted, but a simple email announcement to each list restating
its purpose and how to get on/off the one(s) you don't want to be on
should be sufficient.  Also, the "hello" messages for these lists should
be reviewed and it should be made clear that if you're not willing to
run an alpha WM, you shouldn't be on the workers list.

One thing the Perl folks have done recently is include a script as part
of their test suite that can automatically mail a "success/failure"
report, grabbing such useful info as the system type, etc.  That might
be handy.

  roae> Thank you "Brady Montz", for taking the gauntlet.
  roae> And thank you "Chuck" for picking up the gauntlet

Ditto, in spades.

Hey, does anyone know what ever happened to Rob?  Is he still around on
these lists or anywhere else?

Long time no hear.

-- 
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 Paul D. Smith <[email-masked]>         Network Management Development
 "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
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---

From: Brady Montz <[email-masked]>
Date: 03 Jun 1998 17:51:27 -0700

Root of all Evil <[email-masked]> writes:

> On 29 May 1998, Brady Montz wrote:
> : 
> : People on this list will get to alpha test the new release (probably future
> : releases too) and will be expected to give a complete testing/report (reminder 
> : email sent after a week). Sounds like fun, eh? 
> 
> Expected is a bit too strong in my view. Everyone here is a volunteer, and
> have to interleave their paid or scholastic work for "internet projects".
> 
> I do believe that a format in which to report results is important. However
> an individual who is active for several alpha runs, my only be able to
> monitor the testing reports during others.
> 

Well, I envision this group of people as people I can count on to make a
sanity check over the release (and maybe others) so that I dont' get dozens of
duplicate bug reports from the fvwm-workers list. People who are just on the
fvwm-workers list will have no such expectations on them.

> I agree in that I have had alot of difficulty in the past getting some
> examples to do anything like what was intended. However too much work will
> tend to keep people from donating their creative ideas. I have gained much
> from reading "fvwm2rc" files that will never run correctly at my site.
> Maybe this says something about the portability of the .fvwm2rc file, which
> may or may not rely on built in defaults or features of fvwm2.
> At a minimum, I find a screen shot(s) most helpful to determine weather
> further perusal of ones fvem setup is waranted.
> 

Could be. I know there are at least a few people who have the energy to
properly show off their configurations given the right stage. It will require
a dedicated maintainer. I don't know if such a person exists.

-- 
 Brady Montz
 [email-masked]

---

From: Brady Montz <[email-masked]>
Date: 03 Jun 1998 17:56:02 -0700

Let me just say that after 2.0.47, I will be moving to a CVS code base, and
haven't decided yet how testing will work after that. Since 2.0.47 has a lot
of patches, many of which are in code which my personal setup never uses, I
certainly need a small group of testers at this time.