[support] Beta versions

[Ari Davidow]

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 12:25 PM, Earnie Boyd
<earnie at users.sourceforge.net>wrote:

> Quoting Bill Fitzgerald <bill at funnymonkey.com>:
>
> >
> > But, whenever possible, avoid using alpha/beta/dev/rc releases.
> >
>
> If everyone followed this advice then these releases would never get
> tested.


Not remotely true. There are any number of ways to test from development
servers.  Testing from production is a contradiction in terms. In most
cases, it would not be considered professional.

But, as several people have noted, stability varies and labeling is
inconsistent. Some features will not directly affect site visitors (as
opposed to administrators), or will seldom be encountered, so some judgement
on the part of the developer as to when to break the "if it isn't a
production version of a module, it probably shouldn't be on a production
website" rule, is appropriate.

And having said that, I would still fall back on the knowledge that in the
web world, updating is continuous. In most cases, you are far better going
live with some features that really work, and adding new features as they
are ready, then going live with stuff that is in alpha(!!!!) or beta, or
even RC. If there is any complexity to the site, even with supposedly stable
modules, you will probably discover things to be fixed post-launch. By
keeping variables to a minimum, the likelihood of discovering something that
will give people a negative impression of your professionalism or website
can be lowered considerably.

My two cents,
ari
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