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On Fri, 20 Sep 2002, Barry A. Warsaw wrote:

> >>>>> "TR" == Tom Ryan <tomryan at camlaw.rutgers.edu> writes:
>
>     TR> Sorry, I should have clarified that.. however, doesn't Barry
>     TR> need at least *some* people to run the beta under load to help
>     TR> iron out the problems :)

Oh, absolutely!  The early adopters play a crucial role in moving the
beta toward a solid release.  If it were not for these folks, we would
all be stuck with being forced to be beta-testers.

(Probably paying for the privilege, too, because the best way to make
something sub-standard into something valuable is to put a lot of
marketing behind it and charge people money for it.  For example,
Windows 95 and 98 are both (IMHO) beta software that Micro$oft made a
pile of money off of on the way toward Windows 2000, all-in-all a solid
product.)

I -much- prefer the way it is done in the open source community.

>     TR> Needless to say, I am one of those persons :)
>
> Yes!  And greatly appreciated, not just by me, but by all those other
> folks who have to or want to wait until the final release.  Every bug
> we squash now is one that (hopefully <wink>) won't bite people later.
>
> -Barry

I, too, greatly appreciate the time, energy, efforts, and contributions
of those who elect to run with beta versions.  I owe a countless debt to
you, Tom, and thousands like you, since I use a wide variety of open
source software for many aspects of both my personal and professional
life.

In fact, I would greatly like to join your ranks; alas! I do not have
the time to give; I wouldn't even have the time to keep Mailman up to
date with the latest beta version, which Barry has pointed out in a
recent posting is an important part of being a beta tester.

So, my original purpose in waving the yellow flag for Nathan was just
to make sure that these aspects were "on the table", in addition to the
discussion about the sought-after feature.  I had the sense that Nathan
is in a situation more like mine, where beta software is (no offense!)
to be avoided when possible.

- Andrew

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