Talk:Fedora 12 Alpha Announcement

Here's my quick explanation of the 'bug reporting contest.'

There is no real contest. This is a FLOSS joke.

One of the main reasons for having Alpha and Beta releases is to shake out the bugs. How does that happen?


 * 1) People test stuff that is important to them;
 * 2) They file bugs;
 * 3) Stuff gets fixed for the next pre-release.

There is nothing in the contest that goes beyond those existing processes. Attention is assured, which happens when you file a bug report. A fix is not promised.

I just got tired of using, well, essentially this language: "Be a first class citizen and help others not to suffer from bugs; do your part to make Fedora 12 that much better!"  I was trying to find a clever way of pointing out that being selfish is fine -- focus on what is important to you -- but also file bugs so others benefit from the selfishness.

The people who are going to test the Alpha anyway will do it regardless. But people who think, feel, or fear it is onerous sometimes need a clever way to rethink the problem. There is an instinct to just want a fish dinner and be repulsed at being asked to get out the rod, reel, and net.

For an analogy, consider the situation with Tom Sawyer whitewashing his fence.


 * Karsten -- What the heck is wrong with me, that this joke got SO ENTIRELY LOST on me?!? Now that I re-read it, it makes perfect sense.  Apparently I've been spending way too much time with language (and actual) lawyers recently.  Ignoring the forest for the trees, and all that.  Carry on! --stickster 17:22, 15 August 2009 (UTC)