Dear QGIS Users

Over the weekend I announced that we are putting out a second preview for QGIS 1.0.0. Various binaries are now available including for Windows, Mac OS X, Open Suse Linux (versions 10.2 and 11), Ubuntu Linux (versions 7.10,8.04,8.10) and Fedora (versions 8,9,10). You can download from here:

http://download.qgis.org

In case it isn't clear, please note that our terminology of 'preview' means 'not quite finished / a taster for what the final product is going to be like'. When the final QGIS 1.0.0 comes out the preview suffix will drop away.

As a preview release there are still various bugs that need resolving and various elements (e.g. translation) that may be incomplete. On Saturday the 29th in Johannesburg, South Africa, members from the Africa OSGEO chapter will be holding a QGIS Bug Hunt Party. We would like to invite people from around the world to virtually participate. The idea of the 'party' will be to:

* validate existing bugs on each platform
* mark bugs that can no longer be replicated as ready for closure
* create new tickets for bugs that have not been reported yet (please search first to avoid posting duplicates!)
* mark bugs that are duplicates
* provide additional diagnostics so that developers can replicate issues

We are going to great lengths to polish up QGIS 1.0 for you (inside and out) and we really appreciate all the feedback we have received thus far. Its virtually impossible to ship any software completely bug free, but with your help we can add just a little more shine to the polish!

How to participate:

Grab some friends, your local GIS users group, your auntie, granny, the grocer in the corner shop etc. and get together on Saturday 29th November for 3 hours. If you live far away from it all, you can meet virtually on our IRC channel too if you like.

Then start by going through any bugs that have not been revised recently, adding additional status information. If you think the bug is fixed, add a comment:

Works for me now, recommend closure,

If you can replicate the bug, add a comment like:

Can replicate, OS: Ubuntu 8.10, QGIS Preview 2,

Use your initiative to deal with tickets that don't fit into the categories above, following a similar approach.

If you plan to organise a local group to participate, you can add an entry here http://wiki.qgis.org/qgiswiki/BugPartyNov2008 (or email me details and I will add it).

We look forward to seeing you at the QGIS Bug Party!!!

Regards

-- Tim Sutton - QGIS Project Steering Committee Member (Release Manager)