[maemo-developers] explanations of the recent download problems

[From: Neil MacLeod]

Ferenc Szekely wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I owe you an explanation about the problems we faced with the firmware
> downloads, repository.maemo.org and the windows update wizard server
> backend since Xmas till the beginning of Jan.
> 

Hi Ferenc, don't beat yourself up as mistakes happen and nobody is looking for a scapegoat. Your honest appraisal of the problems is very much appreciated.

The biggest concern however is that this was the second failure within a few weeks - a torrent had to be setup for the N800/OS 2008 Beta and original N810 OS 2008 releases as well... alarm bells should have been ringing following this Beta release and not a few weeks later on 15 December when everyone had gone on their Christmas vacation.

If there is one lesson to be learned from the most recent release it surely has to be that maemo.org should never again release firmware immediately before a holiday season. maemo.org must always have developers on site for at least one week following release to handle the immediate problems that arise, be they serious firmware issues or, more likely, infrastructure/download problems. If necessary, delay the firmware release until after the holiday season rather than rush it out and have the community and new users endure the ghastly experience that befell us all in December.

Nobody should be blamed for the past problems if the right lessons are learned for the future. Problems will undoubtedly happen again, but maemo.org must ensure that people are around to fix the problems sooner rather than later. Another 3+ weeks of broken servers and maemo.org in complete radio silence - this is the first time this problem has been publicly acknowledged by anyone from maemo - cannot be permitted to happen again.

Thanks again for the post mortem.

Neil