On Fri, 2004-12-03 at 13:39 +0000, Kurt Lieber wrote:
> > What this means is if we have something wrong with a stage1 tarball
> > that:
> > 
> > #1. rac should talk to releng rather than posting contrary information
> 
> To be fair, when you and I talked in #gentoo-installer a few weeks ago
> about dumping stage tarballs, I told you that rac had some concerns about
> this and that you should talk to him about it.

You're right.  I had forgotten about that conversation.  I know that rac
has had concerns with the stages for a while now.  I'll contact him.

> > #2. we should work to resolve any problems with the stage1 tarball
> 
> I don't think anyone disagrees with this.  I think rac's solution is more
> of a band-aid than anything.  I think he along with everyone else would
> like to see a better, more robust solution put in place.  In the mean time,
> however, I don't think it hurts to notify our users of the problems with
> stage 1 tarballs, *in their current form*, and suggest a work-around while
> we work to fix them for a future version.

I agree with you there.  I also think that if we're going to do things
like this, that it should be coordinated and put out in a much more
official manner.  I know a bunch of users read the forums, but I also
know that many people don't consider information there to be
authoritative in any way.  Perhaps a better solution would be to make
mention in the Handbook, then point out the change on the forums (and
mailing lists, etc) rather than posting contrary information.  The only
concern that I have is the appearance of a well-respected developer
essentially contradicting the handbook instructions in a
less-than-official fashion.  Instead, it should be met head-on and
rectified officially.  Think of it more like how kids will pit parents
against each other.  We're the "parents" here and it always works better
when we present a unified decision, even when we don't necessarily agree
on something.

Now, should we change the recommendation in the handbook?

Honestly, I do not think so.  At the same time, I think we should
mention the caveats to using a stage1 tarball, and list the alternative.

-- 
Chris Gianelloni
Release Engineering - Operational/QA Manager
Games - Developer
Gentoo Linux