Hello Kjetil!

In message <9610301924.AA08875@netsu002.oslo.Geco-Prakla.slb.com>
          thomassk@oslo.geco-prakla.slb.com (Kjetil Bernhard Thomassen) wrote:

> I couldn't agree more, and that is why I have joined the documentation
> project. To take some of the documentation load off Mark.
> Also, I want to contribute, and the above is the reason for RDP.

Its the same for me. I want to help whereever I can.
Almost every experienced user can help with documentation. It's a shame there
is hardly anything for NetBSD.

Another problem is that many source files have almost no description in them.
There are some exceptions, especially the RiscBSD team did it well, but often
there isn't even a single line saying what this file is about.

> I would say that bash, perl, ssh and tcsh should at least be
> tested by the kernel team, as these interact with the kernel
> quite closely.

Maybe, but there's still a lot left which can be done by other people.

[Quite a bit deleted but I like that you agree with me. :-)]

> I have spent many days on RiscBSD that I really should have spent
> working. But, I do this because I feel that I can contribute and
> get a better system. We need to be a bit more dedicated to this.
> 
> We can't just sit on the fence waiting for other people to make
> RiscBSD. We have to work together with those in the areas in
> which we can contribute.

!!!
Another kernel hacker wouldn't be bad too, but this is very difficult to learn.

> We should make a mailing list for beta-testers, and an area on the
> ftp server with a user account and password that would only be
> distributed to the people on the mailing list.
> 
> This will then be a list of people who wants to experiment to the
> benefit of all others. Not all people want to be beta-testers, but
> those who do should be on this list.

I don't think this makes sense.
Beta versions are not guaranteed to work, period. Why restrict distribution to
some people, everybody is using them at his own risk. It is free software, so
why limit the range of beta testers? You often get versions marked as beta for
other programs too.
There are always the release versions for people who don't want to. Or they can
wait and see if people who are more eager get along with something new.

> When there have been any changes worth testing, the code should
> be made available on this special area first, and if the people
> on the list find it to be ok, then it should be released.
> 
> This does not need to be large changes. It could e.g. be a new
> kernel.

Don't forget that this would be additional work for the one maintaining the ftp
site, ie. Mark.

So long, Markus