XFree86.org: A Call For Open Governance Of X Development
"Persistent problems in XFree86 development have become widely recognised
within the X community. I have talked to people throughout the X
community in a search for solutions. These conversations were personal
rather than public because I felt the need for council, not conflict.
Some have suggested that this was a secret attempt to undermine the
XFree86 project: this was not my intent. I have tried as hard as I can
to work within the existing XFree86 structure.
"Some of the most persistent problems identified by the community are:
"Limited development resources
"The 'fetchmail' project has contributions from over 800
developers. Over the last two years there were about 250
contributors to XFree86, a project more than a hundred times larger.
"Slow release schedules
"Since the XFree86 4.2 release in January 2002, support for 27 new
versions of the ATI Radeon chip was added to the XFree86 Radeon
driver. Anyone using one of these chips was either forced to wait
for the February 2003 release of XFree86 4.3 or run an unreleased
version of XFree86..."
David Dawes release manager of the XFree86 project announced that bi-weekly CVS snapshots are one of a number of changes the XFree86 project plans to implement in response to an email by Keith Packard calling for "Open Governance Of X Development".
Keith Packard's proposal would make the Board of Directors for the XFree86 project elected positions similar to the Gnome Foundataion Board of Directors. While many developers do not agree with this proposal, they feel the issues he raises, especially the need to colaborate more with other projects such as Gnome and KDE, should be addressed.
Regular CVS snapshots are another way to inform and involve the community of open source developers and testers. As with all open source programs they come without any guarantee. The tar balls are available here.
