Re: [hylafax-users] [hylafax-devel] Pep talk

[Hal Snyder <hal@vailsys.com>]

Darren Nickerson <darren@dazza.org> writes:

> Okay folks,

> If we're going to remain credible (and this software truly warrants
> credibility) then we need to get a release out the door. The current
> state of the nation is now officially embarrassing. Yes, the CVS
> code is "quite good". But we can't yet recommend people use it,
> except for those running Linux . . . which means we've got HUNDREDS
> of people downloading 4.0pl2 and striking out ALL THE TIME. Believe
> me, I hear from many of them :-( Flat on their faces, with not a
> hope in hell of building that puppy.

Please, yes. The 4.0pl2 release is just nasty. Reminds me of what the
PostgreSQL team used to say about the early 6.x releases - "Clear the
room - she's gonna blow!"

The RTN bug burned us for months, til I bit the bullet and spent an
evening finding out which patches on the Hylafax website had any
relevance to present day bits and merged them into the CVS snap of the
day. Nowadays it seems a plain snap would have all needed mods.

> Please can we identify the stumbling blocks, and then set to work on
> resolving them?? Until we can point people to the new release it's
> just our little secret.

I would at least change the website *today* to say, grab the latest
CVS and forget the moldy old releases and patches.

> Should I ask the -users readership to hammer on the current CVS and
> report their findings?

Seems no one has offered up a pre-release to-do list. Let the games
begin. Make a checklist of OSes, modems, and test cases - sendfax,
faxmail, postscript, html, etc. Call for feedback. Decide when you
have enough successes to call it soup.

> How can we attract more developers into the community?

Roadmaps of the code?

Reality sync of web site content? There are pages on the web site
(download latest release, list of patches, list of approved modems
come to mind; or the FAQ, where "new" means an item was added after
Jan '97) that give the impression Hylafax is deader than Disco.

> Any and all suggestions welcome.

:)



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