[Mageia-dev] Release cycles proposals, and discussion

[Olav Vitters]

On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 10:46:33PM +0200, Michael Scherer wrote:
> Proposal 1: 
> 6 months release cycle -> 12 months life cycle

> Proposal 2: 
> 9 months release cycle -> 18 months life cycle  

> Proposal 3: 
> 12 months release cycle -> 24 months life cycle


Regarding release cycles from a GNOME perspective (so 6 months):
+ 6 months is great for stability; with the various freezes and so on,
  there is not a lot of development going on, so code doesn't become too
  unstable

+ very predictable for everyone (releases + freezes are always in the
same period)

+ more immediate feedback from users

- developers might get too focussed on the 6 months, and development
  might slow down after a few years (happened with GNOME 2.x until 3.0
  was suggested)
  to avoid it you need something like a 'feature map' (plan beforehand
  what to do next and when you think the development would be done;
  don't focus too much on the next version)

- big changes are difficult to do in 6 months; though you can branch and
  so on, it isn't always possible (interaction between modules and so
  on)
  e.g. new GDM or the gnome-vfs -> gvfs switch

- stable release is not supported/looked after for too long

Distribution is of course different from just software, so feel free to
ignore.

There was discussion in the past to make a release every 6 months, but
work on it for 9 (there would be a 3 month overlap where developers had
to work on both branches). E.g. by having a restricted 'Mageia 2' while
still having an 'anything goes' Cauldron.
-- 
Regards,
Olav