Debian 6.0 Homestretch Just Around Corner
Neil McGovern, Debian release team member, wrote to the Debian Development Announce mailing list, "It's time for another release update as we move, like a glacier, inevitably and unstoppingly towards the release." As Debian 6 Squeeze is in the homestretch, McGovern calls for early testers to upgrade their systems and to file reports against the upgrade-reports package on any bugs found. He also called for users to test the newly revamped Debian Installer on new installs as well and file bug reports against the installation-reports package. In addition, McGovern appealed to developers and active users to help process those crucial reports. He described the task, "Work involves figuring out what went wrong with the upgrade, filing bug against the involved packages if appropriate, and/or documenting the issue or workarounds in the Release Notes."
In the same post, McGovern said it is time to tighten up the unblock policy. Previously, a package was frozen except for critical bug fixes or translation and documentation updates, but a unblock request could be filed for other reasons. Now the hard freeze is set in stone and no unblocks requests other than those for critical bugs, translations, and documentation fixes. Once the latest Debian Installer release candidate is pushed into the tree, the deep freeze policy will be in place, which usually means only showstopper bug fixes found for issues in the release candidate can be integrated.
The number of bugs remaining number over 200, but that's down from approximately 1200 recorded at the beginning of the year. A bug squashing party was recently held in Manchester, UK with another scheduled at the end of the month in Bern, Switzerland and one early December in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. So, hopefully that 200 number will decline significantly as the estimated December release date nears.
So, all this means that Debian 6.0 Squeeze is nearing the homestretch and the finish line is right around the corner. Some estimates have Debian 6.0 being released before the end of the year.