Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!hp4nl!targon!gert
From: gert@targon.UUCP (Gert Kanis)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: Re: The Upgrade Process
Summary: Fiddling with upgrade is supposed to be part of the fun
Keywords: upgrade version patch 1.5.5 learning ST
Message-ID: <1083@targon.UUCP>
Date: 21 Mar 90 12:24:10 GMT
References: <3450@hp-sdd.hp.com>
Reply-To: gert@targon.UUCP (Gert Kanis)
Followup-To: comp.os.minix
Organization: Nixdorf Computer BV.,SWP, P.O. Box 29,Vianen, The Netherlands
Lines: 62

In article <3450@hp-sdd.hp.com> charles@hp-sdd.hp.com (Charles Keith) writes:
>
>1. The upgrade process is long, tedious and error prone.  Once you are out
>of sync or have lost a file, endless time can be wasted trying to recover.
>
>2. The upgrade postings were riddled with defects and errors.  Each problem
>requires diagnosis and manual attention, and sometimes fiddling of the most
>desperate variety (perhaps if I add this line the crc will come out right).
>Seriously, this kind
>of stuff is driving people away from minix, and soon only the captive
>audience (academics and students) will be left.

I will not deny but  I think doing an upgrade (and finding problems)
also has a educational aspect. Please don't get me wrong, I didn't say
that having something that doesn't work after an upgrade is a blessing.
But it pushes you (or whoever upgrades) to delve deeper into Minix.

Remember the upgrades posted here on the net are ONLY for those who would
*LIKE* to go (voluntary) through the upgrade process. If you're happy
with Minix 1.3, stay with it :-)  or wait for new versions to come out
by P.H.

>Rather than just whine about the sad state of affairs, I would prefer to
>propose solutions to the problems that bedevil us.  Here are my (modest)
>proposals:
>
>1. If the readership of this group is 10,000 as Andy suggests, perhaps we
>should all shout a suggestion in Andy's ear: TEST!  Promise an undergraduate
>some extra credit and lock him/her up in a room with the old version and
>some upgrade postings.

Yeah, lock'm up :-). No seriously I think at the moment we (on the net) are
those `undergraduates'. My guess is that the main reason that we get all
the updates is to let a big group test the stuff on a variety of hardware.

The situation now somewhat improved with the `referees'.

>Problems with shar'ed binaries and empty files should never get out of the
>Netherlands.
>
Oh please, we want to get rid of them :-) :-)

>[rest deleted]
>Charles Keith
Although I do not disagree with your suggested changes I like to stress
`Upgrade from the net is voluntary'.

BTW I have a somewhat related question to Dr. Tanenbaum:

You indicated that 1.5.x will come available from Prentance Hall,
will there also be a Atari ST 1.5.x from PH?
(If ,as rumours go, there will be Amiga 1.5 and MacMinix 1.5 it would be
 a good idea to have ST 1.5 also).

Gert Kanis.
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