[syslinux] boot... round 2

[Ady]

> On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 2:28 AM, Ady via Syslinux <syslinux at zytor.com> wrote:
> 
> > FWIW, I am still against releasing 6.04-pre1 yet.
> 
> Why?  A pre-release is not a full release.  It means we're getting
> ready and have something that we want more people to test, especially
> those who can't reliably build test binaries, especially those who
> can't build any.
> 
> Yes there are open issues at this point but I'd say we're getting
> close to ready.
> 
> -- 
> -Gene
 
 
TL;DR: IMHO a new 6.04-pre1 at this time would generate more "cons" than "pros".

I should point you to:

 http://www.syslinux.org/archives/2015-July/023723.html 

where I expressed several reasons (or at least a context) to my current opinion.

One example of my reasoning is the ongoing "My IP is 0.0.0.0" discussion in this 
Syslinux Mailing List. Take for instance:

 http://www.syslinux.org/archives/2015-July/023712.html 

indicating that there is some progress, but the issue is not really solved. The 
current git head might, perhaps, solve some issues, but as long as there are still 
things that are being "discovered" (as in "now we see something in some spec / code 
/ test / VM / real firmware implementations that we weren't really noticing / aware 
/ fully understanding before"), we might see additional changes in the code about 
the _same matter_. I seriously doubt we would get additional and/or better feedback 
(in relation to what we already have) about it just because a new pre-release 
(whereas I am convinced that having a 6.04-pre1 at this time would cause confusion 
and higher-than-deserved expectations).

FWIW, I do a have a list of current changes since 6.03 (for the NEWS file / 
change-log).

I must also mention the additional (attempted) patches that were not even really 
discussed (by relevant devs). They might not be strictly considered as "fixes of 
regressions", but I don't see any reason to disregard them all without even a 
comment from the Syslinux Team. Or, in other words, if such (attempted) patches are 
worth consideration, I see no reason not to evaluate them and merge them (with the 
relevant changes, adequate formatting, etc.) _before_ 6.04-pre1.

As someone that tries to test as many Syslinux features as possible with as many 
(pre-)releases as possible (in astounding contrast, IMHO, with most so-called 
"Syslinux package maintainers"), the versioning details I have mentioned (in the 
first link I posted above) is also relevant regarding my opinion.

Some of the patches that are already merged in the current upstream official git 
head are already being considered by several distros; in some cases they were used 
by them before upstream merged them. Regarding the issues that are not really 
solved by the current git head, they are being tested by some users that really 
need these to be solved. My opinion: let's not create confusion and expectations 
with some "new 6.04-pre1", and keep debugging (with the help of current testers).

I could go on, really.

Regards,
Ady.
 
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