Two last releases (5.0 and 4.4) has got a number of features, but these releases were not major updates. Nevertheless after these updates LO becomes more buggy. I face crashes much more frequent (yes, I have tried to clean my user settings). There is still memory leak. And there bugs have startred to appear in places, where there were no new features implemented!!! Do you feel the same? (Maybe code is too old and was modified so many times, that it is expected to be) How can we tell developers to focus on stability? I’m becomeing insane, I have got a habit to save file manually every 2 minutes. 5.0.3 feels like beta version, but it’s almost still release.
How can we tell developers to focus on stability?
The inmates have taken over the Insane Asylum. They are not listening.
5.0 and 4.4 has got a number of features, but these releases were not major updates.
… in your opinion. Where is your basis for making this (general) claim? In particular, v5.0 was widely blogged about as being the largest change to the product in its history. Each accompanying release notes are among the most extensive provided in the entire open source community and even these do not detail all the changes. There is major ongoing work being done to refactor the code and generally improve multi-platform operating system integration. The development model for LO is aggressive and time-based, rather than when-it-is-ready-based.
If your requirements are conservative (e.g., stability) then I advise sticking with end-of-series releases that are end-of-life e.g., v4.4.7.2 as I write this. In addition try these things:
- Use a new user profile.[1]
- Remove all extensions prior to upgrade and then reinstall on the new version one-at-a-time, testing stability for each.[1]
- Rather than upgrade an existing install, remove entirely the old install and innstall the new version.
- Ensure shared libraries, such as Java, MS Visual C++ (Windows), codec support, are of a compatible version.
- For the time being (v5.0-5.1) turn off OpenGL, OpenCL, and other hardware acceleration options. These are currently undergoing extensive work.
[1] Old user profiles and extensions tend to increase instability.
The problem, oweng, is that v4 no longer features within the “Development, Fresh, Still” series anymore; they are all v5. That is part of the insanity that informed my own answer. Most folks want stability, which is why they do not build their houses upon flood plains by choice. Unfortunately, the OpenGL/OpenCL madness started with late v4.
I understand however instability is an attribute of the “release early release often” open source development model i.e., the reliance is on users as testers. I find v4.4.7.2 stable but stability is a factor of many contextual factors. It is worth noting that LO arguably has the lowest code defect ratio (coverity rating of nearly zero). It is simply a very large project and so a focus on stability (e.g., AOO) tends to result in glacial rates of development. There is no easy answer.
It is also worth adding that very large commits (changes) are prohibeted by developers as they are too difficult to peer review. Thus, refactoring the OpenGL code, and similarly large tasks are made piecemeal out of necessity. This often results in unavoidable breakages in the context of supporting all possible install configurations. Rest assured though that this major under-the-hood work will result in a better product. Small comfort in the interim I know.
LO users have accepted the “Development, Fresh, Still” philosophy of releases; that is not the argument here. Still says of itself that it is:- “the stable version that has undergone more testing (over a longer time). It is usually recommended for more conservative use”. This question points out that that is no longer true. Users are reporting that releases installed on brand new OS installs are crashing. Those reports are ignored.