Re: Release schedule - to branch or not to branch

[Alexander Malmberg]

Willem Rein Oudshoorn wrote:
> Alexander Malmberg <address@hidden> writes:
> > The frequent semi-stable releases would solve this.
> 
> Well, I am not sure if this really helps.  I find it a little
> hard to judge when something is "relatively" stable and when it
> is not.

I feel that, with some help from #GNUstep, I could keep the tag
up-to-date. (We already keep track of this informally.)

> > In addition to
> > normal version tag, we would have a moving LATEST_SEMISTABLE tag. You
[snip]
> This seems a nice idea, but I fear it will not increase the stability
> of the final releases.

It will allow a greater number of users to test up-to-date versions,
which will let them submit bug reports that are relevant. This is one of
the advantages of it.

That said, I don't think it would help much for a final release, and it
isn't intended to. When it is time for a final release, a long freeze
for bug fixes and a stable branch makes a lot of sense. My suggestion is
intended to get us to that time, not through it. :)

[snip]
> Having said this, a technical solution will not solve this.
> Unless people find it really important to bring out
> stable releases no technical measure will work.

True. Personally, I don't feel that we're really ready for stable
releases yet (at least not of our complete interface, and we don't have
documentation that says which parts are done). Too much active
development still remains.

- Alexander Malmberg