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* Stable releases
@ 2015-08-11 17:18 Scott Randby
  2015-08-11 18:33 ` Ista Zahn
                   ` (5 more replies)
  0 siblings, 6 replies; 42+ messages in thread
From: Scott Randby @ 2015-08-11 17:18 UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: emacs-org list

While I've used Org's development version in the past, I stopped doing 
that due to my failure to learn how to use git (no time) and other 
issues. Now, I only use the stable releases. But the latest 8.3 release 
doesn't seem so stable to me, so I'd like some clarification about what 
the Org maintainers mean by a stable release. Perhaps this is too vague, 
so let me explain a bit.

Normally, I wait many months before upgrading Org to a new stable 
release, but when 8.3 was released, I upgraded right away (from 8.2.10) 
since I have a new machine on which I installed Emacs 24.5. I read 
through the release notes for anything that might give me problems and 
didn't see anything.

When I started using 8.3, I discovered that the behavior of commented 
headlines had been changed---a change with which I disagree, a change I 
could not find in the release notes, and one which forces me to alter a 
huge number of files. It seems I missed the discussion about commented 
headlines on the mailing list. This is due to my limited knowledge of 
elisp and programming in general, a gap which makes it difficult for me 
to follow the more technical discussions on the mailing list. While it 
has been explained to me that the change is a feature, I consider it to 
be a serious bug since it is not backwards compatible.

Another issue I had with 8.3 is the deletion of the 
org-latex-with-hyperref variable, something I could not find in the 
release notes (maybe I missed it). I understand that having Org insert 
\hypersetup{...} details is the most desirable situation, but I fail to 
see the harm in keeping org-latex-with-hyperref for those of us who 
needed it in the past. Yes, I figured out a fix, but this is a fix that 
forces me to stick with an outmoded way of doing things, and so I 
consider this deletion to be a bug.

I do understand that all software has bugs, and that everyone working on 
Org is doing so voluntarily (thank you so much for your wonderful work). 
But I was very surprised to find that the evaluation of table formulas 
didn't work in 8.3.1. I could see something like this happening in the 
development version, but it is somewhat mysterious to me how such a bug 
could make its way into a stable release.

I guess what I want to know, and maybe there is no answer, is how long 
should I wait before upgrading to a stable release? Org is by far the 
most important piece of software I use (I hate it when I can't use Org), 
and bugs (which I know can't be avoided) make it hard, even impossible, 
for me to get my real work done. If there is a way for me to minimize 
encountering bugs, I will appreciate a description of that way.

Scott Randby

^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread

end of thread, other threads:[~2016-01-19  9:00 UTC | newest]

Thread overview: 42+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
2015-08-11 17:18 Stable releases Scott Randby
2015-08-11 18:33 ` Ista Zahn
2015-08-11 19:34   ` Suvayu Ali
2015-08-11 20:56 ` Rasmus
2015-08-12 16:14   ` Scott Randby
2015-08-12 13:39 ` Nicolas Goaziou
2015-08-12 14:38   ` Peter Salazar
2015-08-12 15:57   ` Scott Randby
2015-08-12 22:56     ` Rasmus
2015-08-18 16:44   ` Bastien
2015-08-18 17:30     ` Bastien
2015-08-12 17:37 ` Achim Gratz
2015-08-12 19:06   ` Scott Randby
2015-08-13  9:32     ` Eric S Fraga
2015-08-13 13:28       ` Scott Randby
2015-08-18 17:36 ` Bastien
2015-08-18 17:52   ` Scott Randby
2015-08-18 20:40   ` Russell Adams
2015-08-18 22:26     ` Bastien
2015-08-19 20:00     ` Rasmus
2015-08-20 23:03       ` Bastien
2015-08-20 23:56         ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-21  7:21           ` Suvayu Ali
2015-08-22 17:32             ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-22 17:44               ` Achim Gratz
2015-08-22 17:55                 ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-22 18:00                   ` Achim Gratz
2015-08-22 18:23                     ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-22 18:53                       ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-22 18:57                         ` Achim Gratz
2015-08-22 19:06                           ` Thomas S. Dye
2015-08-21 18:37         ` Rasmus
2015-08-19  8:51   ` Nicolas Goaziou
2015-08-19  9:36     ` Bastien
2015-08-19 14:51       ` Nicolas Goaziou
2015-08-19 19:57   ` Rasmus
2016-01-17 10:12 ` Losing trust in Org: stable org-mode releases and unit tests for basic functionality Karl Voit
2016-01-17 10:30   ` Achim Gratz
2016-01-18 13:47     ` Karl Voit
2016-01-17 13:41   ` Marco Wahl
2016-01-18 14:06     ` Karl Voit
2016-01-19  9:00       ` Marco Wahl

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