On 3/16/07, Chris Gianelloni <wolf31o2@g.o> wrote:
> The 2007.0 snapshot is what we build the release against.  It has
> nothing to do with your installing a system or not, as you will want to
> update your system after installation *anyway* so using a 2006.1 CD and
> running an "emerge --sync" and updating world afterwards will give you
> the exact same results.

Aren't Gentoo releases, such as 2007.0, a "gold seal" so to speak,
denoting increased stability and QA scrutiny when compared with any
randomly chosen Gentoo snapshot? This is the assumption behind my
desire to base my deployment on the 2007.0 release, and it appears to
be supported by the following claim on Release Engineering's project
page:

"This project is very much focused on ensuring that the initial
quality of every official release is as high as possible, and that the
"from CD" experience is as positive for as many of our users as
possible."

I could, as you suggest, forgo the waiting and deploy right now using
2006.1 + sync + update world, but it seems to me that would result in
installations that have the least possible assurances on stability and
quality, given that the number of changes made to Gentoo since the
last release-quality mark, 2006.1, is near its peak. (In other words,
the further from a release in terms of changes made, the less
meaningful is the "gold seal" signified by that release.) Furthermore,
because any issues currently holding back the 2007.0 "gold seal" are
hidden from users by the restricted release tracker bug, I have no way
to make an informed decision of whether or not to take my chances.

> If this is really something that would cause you to go to another
> distribution over, there's not much that we can do about it and it is
> likely that you might not be happy with Gentoo, anyway.

I've been administering Gentoo systems happily for several years.
Please don't dismiss my expectations; I believe they're reasonable
given Release Engineering's stated goals.
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