Re: [WOLK-devel] WOLK4.0s / WOLK4.0w vs. WOLK5.0s / WOLK5.0w

[Kerin M. <ke...@re...>]

On Fri, 9 May 2003 13:30:52 +0200
Marc-Christian Petersen <m....@wo...> wrote:

> Currently wolk-devel mailinglist has 198 (no typo: 198!) members and I only
> see about 5-6 persons writing mails.
> 
> Thank you!

OK, I'll throw in my two pence. Generally, I agree with Andrew's suggestions. I don't believe it would be beneficial for you to splinter your efforts into a specific workstation edition at this stage, given that that you are, as you said, "only one person". I, for one, am far more interested in a strong 2.4.21 based WOLK for server use.

For example, I don't think that you should worry about adding features such as ALSA. ALSA modules are easy to compile, and the releases are frequent. I appreciate the minor tweaks which ensure that WOLK remains my desktop kernel of choice but in terms of desktop-oriented features that require extra patches (ALSA, supermount et al), I think you should add them only if it represents a minimal effort on your part and, even then, at your discretion.

I would also advise against releasing builds for the impending WOLK-5 too frequently. There is certainly a danger that (a) people won't bother to recompile so frequently, indeed it is not always practical (b) bugs will not be "shaken" out in a streamlined and timely fashion.

Pretty obvious I suppose, but I think the lack of a nice website is a barrier for the project as whole. A nice website would act as a nice hub for the project and satisfy the curiosities that wolk inevitably invokes in those who get to hear about it, and could help spread the good word. Plenty of resources could be "pooled" via the site, and a FAQ could be compiled (to avoid needless questions or "insufficient" bug reports on the mailing lists and so forth). You might even consider having a Wiki (I would be quite happy to contribute ;-). You could have lots of nice things, such as "real-world" success stories with wolk, and articles or links to articles on using some of the more interesting features that the wolk patchset provides.

Obviously I appreciate the hard work you do, and I do realise someone has to get off their backside and do the hard graft ;-).

Regards,

--Kerin Millar