Cobold's post about kernel dates deserved more attention than it got, because it reframes the whole wait.
If beta 4's kernel was built on 14 July and shipped on the 20th as an f compile, that is six passes in under a week. Apple is not sitting on a finished build two or three betas ahead of us. They are compiling right up to the wire and throwing most of it away.
Which makes the letter a rough proxy for how much grief a build gave them on the way out. gtmead09 was half joking about wanting A and B builds by the RC, but that is exactly the shape you would want to see this late in the cycle. By that logic a beta 5 that turns up two days late as a c would be a better sign than one that arrived bang on Monday as another f. Worth checking the build string rather than the date when it does land.
No build has ever arrived faster for being refreshed at, sadly.
