[indiana-discuss] Beta testing, "internal" builds, etc.

[Jim Walker]

Joanmarie Diggs wrote:
> 
> Sounds like an awesome idea! Please include me amongst the contributors
> to this project.

Done.

> My official/primary interest and background is around accessibility. In
> addition, I have three desktops and two laptops in my home all with bare
> metal OpenSolaris installs all pointing to the dev repo. Combine that
> with my non-engineery background and odds are excellent that if
> something can be broken in a (previously) unfathomable way, I will find
> it. ;-)

Great qualifications.

>> - develop a simple beta test cycle process that focuses the project members
>>   and broader community on key old and new features needing testing per build
> 
> Sounds good. I was also wondering about the internal builds which I
> gather precede the publicly-available dev builds: Are they internal
> primarily due to legal issues or due to a desire to reduce the
> likelihood of external users stumbling across anything major? If the
> latter, perhaps the definition of "internal" could be expanded to
> include those of us willing to accept the risk? (Or is this what you
> meant by your fourth point?)

It is the latter, although there is a legal review also. We try
to push out the dev builds asap (normally 2-3 days after internal
release). The bits coming out are very fresh, as was discussed
earlier ;)

I'm thinking the leaders of the beta test project could spend a
day deciding what to focus on based on various inputs then turn
people loose and see what happens. Ad hoc testing would also be
encouraged. And, user workflow and other areas could become sub
topics to explore etc...

I think it will be fun! And, very valuable in making OpenSolaris
even better.

Cheers,
Jim