Re: [Xen-devel] Xen release cycle revisited

[Steven Haigh <netwiz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tuesday, 19 December 2017 7:47:14 PM AEDT Jan Beulich wrote:
> >>> On 19.12.17 at 07:58, <jgross@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > My proposal addresses the 4.10 experience. I see the following
> > alternatives (assuming we want to keep the two releases per year
> > scheme):
> > 
> > 1. Leave everything as is
> > 
> >    Pro: seems to work for the June release
> >    Con: release date for the December release is risky
> > 
> > 2. Move releases one month earlier, freeze dates as well (my proposal)
> > 
> >    Pro: more time for release at end of the year
> >    Con: freeze date end of February at end of Chinese New Year holidays
> >    
> >         in some years (2018 not applicable, as we would move that
> >         release by 2 weeks only, so next time this will really hit us
> >         will be 2026, maybe a little bit in 2021)
> > 
> > 3. Move releases one month earlier, freeze dates before holidays
> > 
> >    Pro: developers won't have to let feature slip due to holiday
> >    Con: shorter development time for _all_ developers
> > 
> > 4. Keep the June release like today, move the December release 2 or 4
> > 
> >    weeks earlier
> >    Pro: all Pros of 1-3
> >    Con: every second release will have shorter development cycle
> 
> 5. Go to a yearly release cycle, with June as expected release date.
> At the risk of (still) being the only one to dislike the 6-month cycle,
> I have to say that there, at the moment, being 4 actively maintained
> stable branches and 6 security maintained ones is - just like I did
> anticipate back when we discussed the shortening of the cycle - a
> significant burden. And we haven't even reached the point yet
> where all security maintained branches are from the 6-month cycle.

I've gotta agree here - I've already been skipping releases to keep up. 4.8 
was a complete non-starter for me, and 4.10 might be the same. Its exhausting.

I'm not sure there are really enough under-the-hood changes to justify a 6 
month rapid release cycle.

It adds extra load on the security team, packagers, distro builders etc etc 
which could probably be avoided with a sane release cycle.

I would think one release per year + point releases / roll ups with all XSAs 
and backported fixes every quarter would be fantastic - as well as a 'master' 
that people can build off git at will...

-- 
Steven Haigh

📧 netwiz@xxxxxxxxx       💻 http://www.crc.id.au
📞 +61 (3) 9001 6090    📱 0412 935 897

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