On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 11:40:49 +1200, Nick Rout wrote:

> However, when I first used gentoo I was always the first in my LUG to
> have the latest kde, evolution, mplayer etc, and that was running x86
> not ~x86. My perception is that gentoo is no longer first off the block
> with stable releases. 

I think some of this confusion is caused by the way people switch between
two uses of the word stable. It can mean "doesn't crash", but then most
upstream latest packages fit there, and some long standing releases
don't. It can also mean "not changing" and this is what some people want
from a distribution. If you run a server farm, you don't want to be
continually upgrading just to get new features you don't need, you just
want a system that works with timely security fixes. This is why Debian
stable is so old, because for these people, old is good. Look at the
situation with Firefox recently, where a new testing ebuild seemed to
come out almost as soon as the previous one finished building. Great for
those who want the latest and greatest, not so good for those who want a
stable system. Gentoo gives you the choice, and even lets you pick and
mix, so don't complain because you make an unsuitable choice.

If you want the latest now, you need to use the testing packages, because
the QA rules demand they remain in testing for a while.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Windows Multitasking - screwing up several things at once