Quality Control
Release Testing
Release Testing is the process of testing Rawhide - that's the codename we give to the next release before it gets a real name.
Release Testing has two key tasks: 1) testing installation and upgrades, and 2) testing new features in the release and making sure key applications behave as expected. This testing helps decide which features will make it into the release, and what bugs will block the release.
We are replacing the old TreeTestingTemplate with a detailed test plan for Fedora 9. This plan will be maintained and improved by the QA team.
The QA team also works with developers and release engineers to maintain the ReleaseCriteria , which is used to determine what bugs count as release blockers.
Release testing is exciting work - you get to play with new Fedora releases before they're finished! Ideally you should have a spare computer to test installations on. You should definitely join the fedora-test-list mailing list - that's where other people running Rawhide gather to talk about what's working and what isn't.
You can be a big help by testing bugs that the Fedora developers have tagged as needing to be tested. This is where a fix is believed to exist, however confirmation is desired by independent testers. The list of bugs is here. , An RSS feed is also available at http://feeds.feedburner.com/NeedsRetesting
Update Testing
This is the process of testing newly-built updates for the stable releases, in order to catch incomplete fixes and regressions and other nastiness. All you need to do to start getting test updates is enable the 'fedora-updates-testing' repository.
New updates are listed in the Bodhi tool at http://bodhi.fedoraproject.org/. The QA team tests the new updates and adds comments about whether they work or not. The better-tested an update is, the sooner it can be released.
(Note that you currently need a Fedora Account to log in to Bodhi.)