Re: The naming wars continue...

[Linus Torvalds]

On Mon, 25 Oct 2004, Bill Davidsen wrote:
> 
> I do agree that the pre and rc names gave a strong hint that (-pre) new 
> features would be considered or (-rc) it's worth doing more serious 
> testing.

Well, I actually do try to _explain_ in the kernel mailing list 
annoucements what it going on.

One of the reasons I don't like "-rcX" vs "-preX" is that they are so 
meaningless. In contrast, when I actually do the write-up on a patch, I 
tend to explain what I expect to have changed, and if I feel we're getting 
ready for a release, I'll say something like

	..

	Ok,
	 trying to make ready for the real 2.6.9 in a week or so, so please give
	this a beating, and if you have pending patches, please hold on to them
	for a bit longer, until after the 2.6.9 release. It would be good to have
	a 2.6.9 that doesn't need a dot-release immediately ;)

	....

which is a hell of a lot more descriptive, in my opinion.

Which is just another reason why the name itself is not that meaningful. 
It can never carry the kind of information that people seem to _expect_ it 
to carry. 

		Linus
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