Thank you, dogone, for acknowledging that as a general rule the Puppy community of developers, testers and users have remained remarkably supportive of each other and positive toward the project throughout the whole Deep Thought development cycle. We are nearing the end of that process and I am extremely proud of what these guys have produced, as I'm sure the wider community will be when they have the final result in hand.
There are some important lessons we have implemented.
1. Transparency and using the forum rather than IRC as the 'meeting point'. This overcomes issues around time zones
2. Organization through implementation. We had a very flexible and practically non existent structure that arose organically; centered around our developers and their efforts.
3. More users, more testers, more coders. Being a more popular distro has enabled much more effort and feedback
4. Focus on one project 'Deep Thought'. There are frisky puplets and many distractions and possible directions. We developed and stuck to a clear agenda. That I feel is largely though Warrens efforts.
Petting and positive reinforcement creates a better Puppy.
I have been using Deep Thought for my day to day OS since RC1.
Incidentally I am having to use IceWM as the JWM taskbar has disappeared - where she gone?
Keep petting. Keep Frisky. Dog biscuits for everyone . . .