Re: RFC:PHP Release Cycle

I think that the most important element in what James and Zak have said is to do with no new code getting added to the RC between test and release - only big fixes. I know that there has been some reasonably heated discussion about this in the recent past. I suspect that the best compromise is to branch and merge CVS, then those who want to develop new stuff can continue, and those who want to bug fix can do that. Whatever else we do, I can see no way of assuring quality if new code keeps going into the RC while it is being tested. As to the time taken, I suspect that 1 week between RC announcement and tested release is Ok. Even if, as Richard says, that is a long time by open source standards, so what! I'm sure that the bulk of PHP users would be happier with stable product a few days later - the odds are that they would have had to spend the extra days fixing and patching anyway. If one ouput from the build tracker is a table plotting the test status with platforms/servers against php core plus the various extensions and this table is made visible via a link from the downloads page, then those downloading the new version can get a good idea of what they are buying into - and even contibute to the table if they wish. Cheers -- Phil Driscoll Dial Solutions +44 (0)113 294 5112 http://www.dialsolutions.com http://www.dtonline.org