Re: No plans to change the version number scheme

On 8/23/2011 3:32 PM, Johnathan Nightingale wrote:
> On 2011-08-23, at 3:52 PM, Alex Faaborg wrote:
>
>> Just in case this got lost amongst the many threads in progress:
>> there are no plans to adjust the version number.  It will remain in
>> its current place in the about window, and we are going to continue
>> with the current numbering scheme.
>
> Thanks, Alex. It's really helpful to have your voice here.
>
>> An attribute of working entirely in the open is that we sometimes
>> create significant confusion as we discuss design work that is in
>> progress. However the bright side is that there is never a shortage
>> of feedback :)
>
> I think this puts it quite well, if somewhat charitably. Threatening
> and insulting people is a kind of feedback I would be happy to see in
> short supply. There were more intelligent commenters here too,
> though, and I know it can be frustrating for them to see a discussion
> seeming to trend towards decision without due consideration of their
> concerns. That sucks. And I appreciate their (measured, grown up)
> attempts to be heard when they felt like we were making a mistake. We
> need that.
>
> Having said that, and I hope you'll all forgive me for being
> engineering-centric in my viewpoint here: if it hasn't landed, it
> isn't decided. If it hasn't shipped, it isn't decided. If it has
> landed and shipped and you have new information, we want to hear it.
> We are not mindless nor careless in our views, and we want what's
> best for the web. All of us. It would help us to remember that more
> often, particularly when disagreeing with each other.
>
> J
>
> --- Johnathan Nightingale Director of Firefox Engineering
> [email protected]
>
>
>

The trouble with open development is that something proposed, as an 
issue for discussion, can be seized upon and blown way out of 
proportion.  I am somewhat surprised that some of the comments made a 
while back about 'forced updates' weren't jumped on.  Or maybe they 
were, and the people who saw them just fled like scared jackrabbits.  We 
can't know.  Probably, in view of recent press, developers should 
consider how users, who lurk around here, might react to a proposal, and 
make sure everyone understands it is a proposal, not an established 
fact, or 'direction'.