[OT] Re: 1.7.1 release date?

[Dave Korn <dave dot korn dot cygwin at googlemail dot com>]

Christopher Faylor wrote:

> If I was more clueless, I'd see them myself, since I just
> type "http://cygwin.com/setup.exe"; in internet explorer when I want to
> upgrade.  So, I would be blithely downloading a new version of cygwin
> which could possibly end up confusing me.

> And, for the record, I don't care about any problems a directory rename
> might cause any private mirrors, including, coincidentally enough, my
> own private mirror.  

  I don't think those two arguments go together.  They're both about
extrapolating from one's personal experience, but it seems one says it's ok to
do so, and the other says it is not.

  These are both valid ways to draw up arguments with the backing of
experience behind them, but I think we often don't remember that we (by which
I mean all us involved in this particular thread) are the *minority* of cygwin
users in the world, and our usage patterns and comfort zones are not
necessarily those which apply to the majority of cygwin users.  (As evidence,
I point to various bugs in setup.exe that have existed for some time, but none
of us ever knew about because we already had existing cygwin installations,
and never tried doing a fresh one from scratch during that period.  Without
having done a survey, if I had to guess, I'd guess that we operate actually
*very* unlike how most others use their cygwin installations.)

  We are a clique, or will become one if we do not take at least some care not
to.  That is a generic concern that has prompted me to raise concerns often in
threads before, but I'm not sure I've ever managed to make clear the basis for
them.  Maybe it's just not important and I'm unable to realise that for some
reason; I really honestly am not certain either way.

    cheers,
      DaveK