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List:       freedos-dev
Subject:    Re: Source distribution for beta4
From:       James Hall <jhall1 () isd ! net>
Date:       2000-01-23 18:50:46
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Brian makes a good point.  More people are downloading Beta4 than the
previous releases.  FreeDOS is definitely becoming more popular, by any
measure you like.  And a fair number of new users will be programmers,
so having the source readily available to them to make
patches/improvements will be a big bonus.

Okay, I'll try to make sure I release a Source disk set in the next
Beta.


And I may have made 'Source v. no Source' a bigger deal than it really
is.  I agree with you guys; let's not get too worked up over a detail. 
:-)

Back to coding!
-jh


Brian E. Reifsnyder wrote:
> 
> Something to consider about source disks:
> 
> (My opinion.)
> 
> The last poll showed that for a large percentage
> of people who tried FreeDOS, the beta 4 was
> their first version.  Although the numbers were
> quite small, and the poll may not be too accurate,
> it is possible that more people may give FreeDOS
> a try because it is getting more and more stable
> and usable with each release.
> 
> As more people use FreeDOS, a percentage of which
> will be programmers, there will be more people to
> improve FreeDOS.  (Even if they only submit one
> patch, bug fix, improvement, etc.)  As a result of
> there being more people improving FreeDOS,
> FreeDOS will become even more stable,
> compatible, and useable. The result being that
> even more people will start using and improving
> FreeDOS.  It is a cycle of improvement that may
> become exponential, to a point.
> 
> Because my reasoning stated above, I feel that
> it will be an advantage to have source code
> distributions so that it is easy for a new
> user/developer to submit a patch, bug fix,
> etc. without having to track down the source
> code.  If they have to do too much work trying
> to find the source code they might decide not
> to bother fixing the problems they find or making
> improvements.
> 
> Just my 2 cents.  I agree with Marty, we shouldn't
> get too worked up about it.
>

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