#25161 closed Cleanup/optimization (fixed)
Don't encourage new users to install the development version in the quick install
| Reported by: | Alasdair Nicol | Owned by: | nobody |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component: | Documentation | Version: | dev |
| Severity: | Normal | Keywords: | |
| Cc: | alasdair@… | Triage Stage: | Accepted |
| Has patch: | no | Needs documentation: | no |
| Needs tests: | no | Patch needs improvement: | no |
| Easy pickings: | no | UI/UX: | no |
Description
I'm creating this ticket because I've several new users with problems with 1.9 in the last couple of weeks: http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=common-passwords.txt.gz
Looking at the Django quick install guide, it in includes the development version as an option.
Install a version of Django provided by your operating system distribution. This is the quickest option for those who have operating systems that distribute Django.
This looks OK to me.
Install an official release. This is the best approach for users who want a stable version number and aren’t concerned about running a slightly older version of Django.
This is also OK. I think we could remove the "and aren’t concerned about running a slightly older version of Django". IMO it's better to describe 1.8.X as the latest release, not as being 'slightly older' than the development version'
Install the latest development version. This is best for users who want the latest-and-greatest features and aren’t afraid of running brand-new code.
I think we could either warn more strongly that stuff might break so it's not recommended, or we could remove that bullet entirely, and change the opening sentence to "You’ve got two easy recommended options to install Django".
I'm happy to write up a patch if the ticket is accepted.
Change History (5)
comment:1 by , 9 years ago
comment:2 by , 9 years ago
| Summary: | Don't encourage new users to installing the development version in the quick install → Don't encourage new users to install the development version in the quick install |
|---|---|
| Triage Stage: | Unreviewed → Accepted |
| Type: | Uncategorized → Cleanup/optimization |
I agree newbies should be discouraged from using the development version.
As an aside, the lack of common-passwords.txt.gz is indeed a bug. I've raised the issue about simplifying MANIFEST.in on django-developers to prevent this type of problem in the future.
comment:3 by , 9 years ago
I've made a pull request https://github.com/django/django/pull/5040
I'm not sure I've got the wording quite right. I will be away for a couple of weeks, so might not be able to respond to the ticket or update it.
Carl, I understand your point that running code against master is useful, so I left that option in. On the other hand, you want a good experience for new users. It's hard to get the balance right, hopefully the patch is a step in the right direction.
I agree that it would probably serve many individual users better if we'd re-word these options to more strongly encourage "latest release" and discourage "latest development version." On the other hand, it serves the Django project well to have some people running off the latest development version and filing bugs against it. If nobody runs real code against master, we'll have lower-quality releases (or tons of bugs discovered in pre-releases, which puts more time-stress on the release schedule). So I don't really want to remove that suggestion entirely, for those who are willing to try it.