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Re: NetBSD 6.0



On Sun, 25 Sep 2011 21:42:46 +0200
Alistair Crooks <agc%pkgsrc.org@localhost> wrote:

> On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 04:59:56AM +0000, Christos Zoulas wrote:
> > In article <4E7EB148.1040405%fastmail.fm@localhost>,
> > David Howland  <metalliqaz%fastmail.fm@localhost> wrote:
> > >Way back in September 2009, Alistair gave a presentation that
> > >predicted a 6.0 release in Summer 2010 
> > >(http://blog.netbsd.org/tnf/entry/netbsd_developer_summit_in_cambridge). 
> > >  It is now Autumn 2011... what happened?
> > 
> > Well, things did not work out as planned. But we are getting close
> > to be feature complete now...
> 
> Just to expand on this a bit more:
> 
>       src/doc/NetBSD-6
> 
> has the headline items which will be in the next release.  In
> particular, support for kernel modules needs a little more work, Xen
> suspend/resume will also need some more testing, and we'd also like to
> have Cherry's Xen MP branch merged.  From a personal PoV, I'd like to
> see the kernel-based iSCSI initiator contributed by Wasabi move from
> othersrc to src, and riz and I have been working on that for a while
> now.
> 
> As to the delay - we had an idea what we wanted to go into NetBSD-6,
> and have stayed close to that idea.  Not very agile, no, and, with
> hindsight, we would probably not do it that way again.  But that's
> where we are, and 6 will be a huge advance on 5 that I believe it's
> well worth the wait.  So much so, that I run 5.99.* on all of my
> machines (except one vm in a colo).
> 
> Now I don't want to make any hostages to fortune, but I'd really like
> to see a 6.0 release in 2011.  Really.  We have still to branch for 6,
> but the testing framework (thanks, guys and gals) have meant that the
> long quiet period for testing and fixup after branching and before
> release is drastically reduced - still there, but easier to see
> regressions as and when they happen - so we believe that our release
> cycle time will be drastically improved in this area.
> 
> Regards,
> Alistair

Speaking as a relative newcomer to NetBSD and indeed to *nix generally
I can say that I have grown accustomed to the pace at which NetBSD
proceeds. I like the way there is never any drama about deadlines. I
do my best to follow the posts to the mailing lists and I like the way
work is done quietly, without any of the fuss that goes with other
OSes. Even significant changes are implemented and announced without
drama. NetBSD is of course a small team which means it takes longer to
bring things to a conclusion, but I appreciate the fact that there is
never a sense of pressure or excessive haste. I've always had the
impression code quality matters, no matter how long it takes, and this
is a breath of fresh air in a world where other OSes are piling one
release schedule upon another, with all the attendant problems that
undue haste brings.

-- 
Gerard Lally

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