I think we should shorten our stable-release interval to 6 months.
This is not a conclusion I have arrived at casually or quickly. I've
been observing this project for nine months now. I think it suffers
from some of the well-known problems associated with long release
intervals, including (1) too many feature additions in each cycle to
debug thoroughly in pre-release time, and (2) a marked tendency to
stagnation and drift in mid-cycle. (In retrospect, I think it was in
a stagnant period when I joined -- and I think the commit-frequency
graphs on Ohloh confirm this.)
I have observed that the long interval also subtly damages our
relationship with our user and tester base, as well. Most players
stick with the prepackaged stable version, which means the expected
dwell time for user-visible bugs is *far* too long.
Late last year I lost some initial members of my UI test group simply
because 1.4 was too far in the future to sustain their interest --
they weren't going to get to see the fruits of their labor soon
enough, lost motivation, and drifted away. (This is what specifically
started me thinking our release interval is a problem.)
Given the choice, I would plan as follows:
Present -> May 1: Open development
May 2 - May 9: "Week of Bug-Stomping" -- soft feature freeze in effect
May 10 -> 2 July: Open development
2 July -> 2 Aug: Feature freeze, bug stomping, translations
2 Aug: 1.6 release
I think 1.6 will actually be in a better state if we shorten the cycle
and stick to less ambitious feature goals in 1.5. (This doesn't mean any
of them would need to be abandoned, just postponed to 1.7.)
Finally, I think our long release interval has been meshing badly with the
timing of Linux distribution releases. While I consider this a minor point
relative to my previous ones, I think it is not insignificant.
--
<a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/";>Eric S. Raymond</a>
The people of the various provinces are strictly forbidden to have in their
possession any swords, short swords, bows, spears, firearms, or other types
of arms. The possession of unnecessary implements makes difficult the
collection of taxes and dues and tends to foment uprisings.
-- Toyotomi Hideyoshi, dictator of Japan, August 1588
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