A Suggestion for Release Testing

[Scott Robert Ladd]

Arthur Nascimento wrote:
>>Given the recent problems with the 4.0.0 release and major packages like
>>KDE and the kernel, has anyone considered testing releases by completely
>>compiling a Linux system?

> Yes, people do it all the time. Check Sourcemage, LFS and DIY:
> 
> http://www.sourcemage.org/
> http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/
> http://www.diy-linux.org/

Of course there are several source-based distributions, but that's not
what I'm talking about. While they may do individual testing when a new
GCC release appears, I'm talking about a formal testing process, where
GCC would be regularly tested during development to ensure that nothing
unexpected is broken. Breaking KDE or the kernel demonstrates a serious
problem in a release, for example.

The test suite can check individual tests, but what may be needed is a
comprehensive test across several applications that comprise a whole.
Certainly GCC would be the better for being able to effectively compile
Linux, KDE, Gnome, Apache, and other "core" programs.

..Scott