Re: [boost] Should we provide hot fixes?

From: David Walthall (walthall_at_[hidden])
Date: 2008-08-27 15:56:47

Vladimir Prus wrote:
> What you propose is essentially:
> 
> - Post 1.36.0 release, duly tested and packaged
> - Post a set of hotfixes
> 
> Another alternative is
> 
> - Post 1.36.0 release, duly tested and packaged
> - Post 1.36.1
> 
> Now, if the 1.36+hotfixes are tested as extensively as the real release,
> then you already spend the resources, the only extra effort is packaging.
> If, for whatever reason, it is decided that hotfixes are obvious enough
> as to don't require any testing, then 1.36.1 package, incorporating the
> same hotfixes, can be released without any testing too.

Actually, wouldn't testing the N hotfixes require testing all 2^N - 1 
possibilities?  That is, since each hotfix could be tested 
independently, we would really need to test every combination of 
applying/not applying the hotfixes (except the case of not applying any 
of them, thus the -1).  Releasing a point release would only require 
testing possibility (that corresponds to applying all of the hotfixes). 
  So it seems like testing hotfixes requires considerably more work than 
testing a point release.

David