Re: Are we approaching a beta release?

On Feb 18, 2008 1:03 PM, Karl Fogel <kfogel_at_red-bean.com> wrote:
> "Mark Phippard" <markphip_at_gmail.com> writes:
> > So. With this in mind, where do we stand towards a beta release of this
> > codebase? I'm not talking release candidate necessarily, but are we ready
> > to put *something* official out there in users' hands? (And on our own
> > svn.collab.net box?) Are folks wanting instead to hold off for a real RC1?
>
> I think we probably could cut alpha1 this week. IMHO the one after
> that should be beta1 (unless there's any pressing reason to call it
> alpha2). After we've got any big problems (based on tester feedback)
> cleared away, we should move right to the RC series, as described in
> http://subversion.tigris.org/hacking.html#release-stabilization.

I suspect when this release finally gets to GA and we look back on the
process it will probably resemble what you have proposed here. That
being said, I worry if we are being a bit too conservative to think of
the process in these terms. Why call this thing we cut this week an
alpha and not a beta? I think it is pretty close to a release
candidate. There are definitely more things we need to do before we
can get to RC, such as the CHANGES file and release notes, but from a
software perspective I think we are getting really close.

Likewise, while this is a big release and might need a longer soak
period than other releases, it has also received an unprecedented
amount of community attention throughout the process. I think there
is a lot of reason to think the bulk of the features have had someone
try to use them, and the overall process has undergone a lot of
vetting by the community.

I'd rather see us push ourselves and decide to take extra time for a
reason, than build in a bunch of extra time and then still take even
more time later.

In the end this is all semantics. We can go from an alpha1 to an RC1
if that is where the software is, and we can go from an alpha1 to an
alpha2 if needed. I just want to keep the process moving as best we
can.

-- 
Thanks
Mark Phippard
http://markphip.blogspot.com/
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