On 16 Aug 2018, at 21:10, Robert Bradshaw <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 7:56 PM Ahmet Altay <[email protected] 
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>> I agree with this assessment and the risk. I proposed every Nth as a way to 
>> keep LTS releases coming out. I was concerned about not making any LTS 
>> releases for a long time.
> 
> Yeah. We could certainly have every Nth release by default to keep the
> cadence up, but note that it's very flexible. Your wording below
> sounds fine to me.
> 

This sounds reasonable for me too, thanks.


>> How about something like:
>> 
>> "The community will mark some releases LTS releases (based on the factors 
>> such as the number of LTS releases currently in flight, and whether the 
>> accumulated feature set from the last LTS provides significant value to 
>> upgrade). There will be at least one new LTS release in a 12 month period."
>> 
>> I prepared a PR draft for the above change 
>> (https://github.com/apache/beam-site/pull/539). I will be OOO for a few 
>> weeks, feel free to edit/merge my PR. I can also do this when I am back.
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Generally, x.0.0 releases are not used by the target audiences of LTS 
>>> releases, so I would not plan on it (by default at least) becoming an LTS 
>>> candidate.
>> 
>> 
>> I agree with Robert. We can let the community decide based on how we feel at 
>> that time, but unlikely in my opinion.
>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Thursday, August 16, 2018, Alexey Romanenko <[email protected]> 
>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Ahmet, thank you for raising this topic, I think it defenitevly makes 
>>>> sense to have LTS releases, especially for enterprise users. The other 
>>>> potential solution could be patching only last 2-3 releases but, with a 
>>>> goal of 8 releases per year, it might cover quite a short time slice.
>>>> 
>>>> The only question for me - do we consider major release (3.0 will be the 
>>>> next one) as LTS release by default despite of the its number in release 
>>>> sequence?
>>>> 
>>>> On 15 Aug 2018, at 20:36, Pablo Estrada <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> No, I think that sounds good : )
>>>> 
>>>> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 11:34 AM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> In the PR, I proposed starting with the next (2.7.0) release. I should 
>>>>> have made it more clear. One way of tracking would be having a table, or 
>>>>> perhaps adding this information to the downloads page. Do you have any 
>>>>> ideas?
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 11:28 AM, Pablo Estrada <[email protected]> 
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Thanks Ahmet for looking into this. I have a follow-up question. Have 
>>>>>> you thought about the next few releases, and which one will be the first 
>>>>>> LTS release? Also, how should we track this?
>>>>>> -P.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 11:24 AM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> PR is reviewed and merged. Thank you all for the input. If you did not 
>>>>>>> have a chance to share your feedback, please propose any modifications 
>>>>>>> that you would like to see. I will be more than happy to make changes 
>>>>>>> that would allows us to serve our users better.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 4:32 PM, Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Still waiting for any additional user feedback to come. I added 
>>>>>>>> reviewers to the PR. Unless there is objections or additional feedback 
>>>>>>>> I would like to go ahead with this version as it is. Modifications 
>>>>>>>> after that would always be welcome.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 2:06 PM, Rafael Fernandez 
>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I think this will great for the project! It's worked well for others 
>>>>>>>>> (such as Ubuntu). I like that this remains compatible with our desire 
>>>>>>>>> to release every six weeks, while keeping the support/patch load 
>>>>>>>>> manageable.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Release: +1 single process. This is just a statement of what we 
>>>>>>>>> commit to service.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 12:31 PM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> I was not proposing any additional changes to the release process. 
>>>>>>>>>> If we think that release process could be improved it would make 
>>>>>>>>>> sense to apply it to all releases.
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 11:01 AM, Lukasz Cwik <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> Charles, I would keep the process the same with respect to 
>>>>>>>>>>> releasing.
>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 11:00 AM Charles Chen <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> (sending to the dev@ list thread as this is more relevant here 
>>>>>>>>>>>> than users@)
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> Will we be using a different / potentially more rigorous process 
>>>>>>>>>>>> for releasing LTS releases?  Or do we feel that any validations 
>>>>>>>>>>>> that could possibly be done should already be incorporated into 
>>>>>>>>>>>> each release?
>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 10:57 AM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Update:
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> I sent out an email to user@ to collect their feedback [1]. I 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> will encourage everyone here to collect feedback from the other 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> channels available to you. To facilitate the discussion I drafted 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> my proposal in a PR [2].
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ahmet
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> [1] 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/7d890d6ed221c722a95d9c773583450767b79ee0c0c78f48a56c7eba@%3Cuser.beam.apache.org%3E
>>>>>>>>>>>>> [2] https://github.com/apache/beam-site/pull/537
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 5:20 PM, Lukasz Cwik <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Thanks, I can see the reasoning for LTS releases based upon some 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> enterprise customers needs.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Forgot about the 2.1.1 Python release. Thanks for pointing that 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> out.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 4:47 PM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 12:33 PM, Lukasz Cwik 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I like the ideas that your proposing but am wondering what 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> value if any do supporting LTS releases add? We maintain 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> semantic versioning and I would expect that most users would 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> be using the latest released version if not the release just 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> before that. There is likely a long tail of users who will use 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a specific version and are unlikely to ever upgrade.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I believe there is a category of enterprise users who would 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> continue to use a specific version as long as they know they 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> can get support for it. This usually stems from the need to 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> have a stable environment. There is also the aspect of 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> validating new product before using. I know some companies have 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> validation cycles longer than 6 weeks. They will still upgrade 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> but they would like to upgrade much less frequently.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I was hoping that defining LTS releases will signal these types 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> of users what releases are worth upgrading to if they have a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> high cost of upgrading.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This comes from my anecdotal evidence and I may be wrong.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I believe it would be valuable to ask our users what is most 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> important to them with respect to the policy (after we have 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> discussed it a little bit) as well since ultimately our goal 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> is to help our users.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I agree with this. Since I am referring to enterprise users 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> primarily I think some of it will require the companies here to 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> collect that feedback.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> This could then be documented and we could provide guidance to 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> customers as to how to reach out to the group for big bugs. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Also note that Apache has a security policy[1] in place which 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> we should direct users to.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think document what could be expected of Beam in terms of 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> support would be very valuable by itself. It will also help us 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> figure out what we could drop. For example in the recent 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> discussion to drop old API docs, there was no clear guidance on 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> which SDKs are still supported and should have their API docs 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> hosted.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think we reference to the Apache security policy on our 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> website. If not I agree, we should add a reference to it.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Also, we don't have any experience in patching a release as we 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> haven't yet done one patch version bump. All issues that have 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> been brought up were always fixed in the next minor version 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> bump.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I agree. There was the Python 2.1.1 but that is the only 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> example I could remember.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1: http://www.apache.org/security/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 11:50 AM Pablo Estrada 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think this all sounds reasonable, and I think it would be a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> good story for our users. We don't have much experience with 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> patching releases, but I guess it's a matter of learning and 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> improving over time.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> -P.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Aug 8, 2018 at 9:04 PM Ahmet Altay <[email protected]> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I would like us to clarify the life cycle of Beam releases a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> little bit more for our users. I think we increased the 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> predictability significantly by agreeing to a release 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> cadence and kudos to everyone on that. As a follow up to 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> that I would like to address the following problem:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> It is unclear for a user of Beam how long an existing 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> version will be supported. And if it will be supported at 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> all, what does that support mean. (This is especially an 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> important problem for users who would like to use stable 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> versions and care less about being on the cutting edge.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Our current state is:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - With our agreed release cadence Beam makes 8 releases a 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> year.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - We have precedence for patching released versions for 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> major issues.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Patching all existing releases at any point (even patching 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a year full of 8 releases) will be significant work.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> With the problem and the information, I have the following 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> proposal to define the life cycle of existing releases.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Define what is a major issue with Beam. (For example this 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> could be high severity security issues and high risk data 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> integrity issues.)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Have a concept of long term support (LTS) releases. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Designate every 4th release as an LTS release (~6 months).
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Deprecate non-LTS releases the moment any new Beam release 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> is out. Never patch non-LTS releases.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Deprecate LTS releases after a new LTS release comes out. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Patch any LTS release within 1 year of its initial release 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> date.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Add the above information to our website.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I think this proposal would give clear information to our 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> users about what they can expect from us, and reduce our 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> burden to maintain existing releases.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I also would like to state my assumptions:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - Releases will happen not because of a policy but because 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> there are volunteers willing to do it. This proposal is only 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> a framework for those volunteers to take action. If Beam 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> does not support its releases, with or without a policy, we 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> will reduce the trust of our users.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> - After we agreed to have a regular release cadence we 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> started to see improvements towards having regular releases 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> even though we did not perfectly hit 6 weeks mark each time. 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I do expect the same here: an improvement in the direction 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> of user happiness even if we cannot be perfect.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> What do you think?
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ahmet
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> --
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Got feedback? go/pabloem-feedback
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Got feedback? go/pabloem-feedback
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> --
>>>> Got feedback? go/pabloem-feedback

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