Re: [RFC] Release Process

hi, amen. On Tue, Nov 23, 2010 at 3:17 PM, Matthew Weier O'Phinney <weierophinney@php.net> wrote: > On 2010-11-23, Derick Rethans <derick@php.net> wrote: >> On Tue, 23 Nov 2010, Ferenc Kovacs wrote: >> > > All the rest you write in the RFC is basically already as we do it. >> > >> > yeah, maybe, but they aren't written down, accepted and well-known rules, so >> > you can forgot/misunderstand/bend them. :/ >> >> And I don't think that is a bad thing. It's good to be able to be >> flexible. > > A good artist is capable of great flexibility within the constraints of > their medium. In the case of software releases, you can still have > greate flexibility even with an existing release process. In many ways, > having the process defined helps bring about creative solutions -- "if I > want to get this in time for the release, what solution will work best?" > > I used to love the ad hoc nature of "we'll release when it's ready." > However, having done quite a number of scheduled releases, I've found > that: > >  * Predictability motivates developers. "Release is in 3 months? Okay, >   let's get rolling on this!" > >  * Knowing when the next release is coming also means that developers >   are more comfortable if they're unable to make the deadline. "I can't >   do it by this release, but I should have no trouble making the next." > >  * Less stressful for release managers. If the code isn't ready by the >   deadline, it's not merged to the branch, plain and simple. > > The status quo works great for those whom it serves. For everyone else, > it stinks. There's no transparency, which leads to disenfranchisement. > > -- > Matthew Weier O'Phinney > Project Lead            | matthew@zend.com > Zend Framework          | http://framework.zend.com/ > PGP key: http://framework.zend.com/zf-matthew-pgp-key.asc > > -- > PHP Internals - PHP Runtime Development Mailing List > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > -- Pierre @pierrejoye | http://blog.thepimp.net | http://www.libgd.org