[email protected] wrote:
Dick Hollenbeck a écrit :
Alain Portal wrote:
Hi,
My kicad installation failed because INSTALL.txt was remove from
repository and not fron the cmake files list.
Here is the patch to fix.
Regards,
Alain
Jean-Pierre,
1) How did this happen that file /INSTALL.txt is not in stable but is
in testing?
Sorry.
This was a too zealous cleanup.
removing notes_about_pcbnew_new_file_format.odt file in the stable
version is enough.
I commited the fix.
My original plan was that stable was simply going to be a periodic
snapshot of testing. With that strategy it would never be possible
for stable to be ahead of testing. Periodic merges would be done
from testing into stable.
Therefore I am confused as to how a file could be deleted from stable
and not from testing.
This sounds good.
My point remains. I am still confused how a file could be deleted from
stable and not from testing: notes_about_pcbnew_format.odt should also
be in stable IMO.
But bug fixes could create (temporary) some differences between
branches between 2 merges.
This is because some bugs must be immediately fixed, but testing
branch can have features that cannot be immediately merged in the
stable branch.
My opinion:
Agreed, bugs should be immediately fixed, but they do NOT have to be
immediately put into stable. If stable was updated once per month, that
would be good enough for the project. Developers need to use the
testing branch, otherwise they are not really developers, they are users
lurking as developers. *We should never accept a patch against the
stable branch*.
Here is how I think of the the two branches, using a metaphor for the
two branches:
Think of an analog feedback loop with a setpoint, and the feedback loop
is subject to disturbances (other than the setpoint, i.e. non-setpoint
disturbances). The disturbances are analogous in the metaphor to new
code, bringing in bugs with each piece of new code. The output of the
loop is the "product", and is the measured variable. We need to think
of the testing branch as the feedback loop, and the stable branch as a
bucket or tank of (chemical?) product. We should only capture product
when the output is near the setpoint. That is if the feedback loop is
still oscillating, we don't capture product. Wait a month, who cares,
for the bugs to be found and wrung out, reaching setpoint again.
Again developers should ALL be using the testing branch, this tightens
up the feedback loop's responsiveness. When that loop is responsive,
then this means we stay nearer to setpoint more often. Again, in this
metaphor, the testing branch is a feedback loop, and the stable branch
is simply a tank of product which is captured only when we think we are
near setpoint (bug free).
The metaphor is not an exact match. In particular we will not run out
of product, meaning anybody can build the stable branch at any time.
But we have to lower expectations about it being "current". How can it
be both current and stable?
If you want to hand pick individual patches that go into stable, this is
your choice. It would not be my choice, because it is too labor
intensive. Instead I would simply delay snapshotting testing until I
suspect that most bugs have been wrung out of testing, even if this
means waiting a month between snapshots. If developers think testing is
more current, this will also incentivize them to USE testing on a daily
basis. The more folks that use testing, the more feedback we get, and
the faster bugs can be wrung out and the loop becomes more responsive
(higher gain in the metaphor). You can always choose to stabilize the
testing feedback loop by slowing down the rate at which you add
disturbances. This is possible by queuing up patches in the developer's
local repo copy, delaying submission, etc. We could make it a practice
to issue a monthly "stable" snapshot, and proclaim that testing patch
submission in week four of every month will be delayed for a week except
for bug fix patches only. Only bug fixes in week 4, then at the end of
the month another full snapshot is made.
This is how I would want to spend my time orchestrating the two
branches, if I had time in the same quantities that you do. It would
start by lowering expectations with respect to the current-ness of the
stable branch.
2) Also, I think it is harmful to have the internat directory tree
present in stable. It is now in the docs, repo. Any objections if I
delete it from stable?
Dick
Currently, the internat directory in stable branch is the same as in
docs repo.
It can be deleted in the stable tree (in fact I did not noticed it was
still in the stable branch until now).
This deletion has been done by me this evening.
Dick
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