Re: [boost] [1.41.0] Release branch open for merges

Subject: Re: [boost] [1.41.0] Release branch open for merges
From: Beman Dawes (bdawes_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-09-04 10:58:01

On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Robert Ramey<ramey_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Hmmm - might we change the release schedule policy from "every three months"
> to "three months after the previously release" ?  It would seem more
> sensible to me since the time between last merge to the shipping has been
> reduced to a couple of weeks. The important thing is for uses to know that
> if he has a problem and reports it (and maybe nags about it) he might get a
> fix in the next 3 months.

Since 1.40.0 was almost a month late, I did consider scheduling 1.41.1
three months from ship date. While there weren't any killer reasons
for not doing that, there were several softer arguments in favor of
keeping to the regular schedule:

* Experience in the past (on another project) with keeping to a
quarterly schedule even if one quarter slipped seemed to show that
there were less schedule slips if the quarterly schedule was
maintained. Perhaps there was less tendency to slip if it meant having
to catch up next quarter.

* The current schedule, particularly for the November and February 1st
target dates, fits well with US holidays and personal commitments I
have every year. It is very hard for me (and a lot of other folks) to
schedule anything between mid-November and Mid-January, and
March/April also tend to have a lot of commitments for me.

> BTW - Is there a consensus that this release procedure is a huge improvement
> over the previous one?

It is a huge improvement from my viewpoint:-)

> What are the current obstacles to making it easier?

I'll try to address that in a separate message.

Thanks,

--Beman