How often do we need GNU/Linux releases?

By Sam Varghese
Thursday, 02 October 2008 21:35

Opinion and Analysis

Of what use is an operating system if all it does is to make you look forward to the next release - simply because umpteen bugs have been introduced by all the new features in the current version?
For years, Microsoft thrived on just such a strategy, adding features to Windows as though they were going out of style and not caring about anything apart from marketshare.

From 1995 onwards, the name of the product reflected the fact that the company's expertise lay more in marketing than technology - Windows 3.1 in 1990 was followed by Windows 95.

What has been the end result? Windows is a widespread but highly insecure and buggy operating system which everyone is forced to use simply because it has become some kind of de facto standard.

I fear that GNU/Linux - or at least some distributions - is following in its wake. For some it may be a good thing because they are only bothered about marketshare. Others may not find this such a good development.

One must admit that the idea of putting these thoughts down arose when playing with the alpha 6 release of Ubuntu 8.10 which is scheduled for release this month. Ubuntu releases every six months.

When these releases come out, people go through them with a fine-tooth comb, trying to find out something new to say about them. At times, even a change of some software from version 2.3.4 to 2.3.5 - which the developer released to fix a few bugs - merits mention. At times, it seems plain silly.

Do we need release cycles during which features are added at breakneck speed? The end result is often similar to what one got in Ubuntu 8.04 - a broken audio system based on a something new: PulseAudio.

And 8.04 was supposed to be one which had long-term support. A tidied-up version - 8.04.1 - came out to fix some of the problems.

One can understand why the development of the Linux kernel proceeds at a breakneck pace - there are hundreds of patches being submitted by developers who work for various companies. They write features based on the needs of the company in question. The features are incorporated by the kernel team and a kernel version release follows.

But distributions don't have to use these features - hardly any distribution uses the vanilla kernel these days, everyone customises it to their own needs.

Once distributions start indulging in feature creep, then users are at a disadvantage.