Proposal-- regular scheduling of bugfix releases

["Chris Travers" <..hidden..>]

Hi all;

I have been reviewing the problematic vs less problematic releases in the past and have noticed an interesting pattern:

Releases tend to be problematic when a) they follow a long period of no releases or b) they require extensive testing to validate all features.

Obviously major releases are always going to fall under the extensive testing category and may contain new bugs (hence good beta test programs and participation in that process by a broad base of users is important).  However, one important question is how we can avoid the main traps that seem to let bugs slip into released versions  To date we have automated a lot of the cleanup which has caused packaging errors in the past.

My proposed solution is that we begin validation of bugfix releases within 2 weeks of the previous release (I am thinking the second monday after the last release).  In urgent cases, we can move that schedule up, but we should avoid moving it back.  If the number of bugfixes are small and the software is easily testable,  validation should take no more than 48 hours.

I also think that going forward, we should probably upload all validation tarballs to Sourceforge and use that as a distribution method for the validation.  Validation emails would be sent to this list so that more people could weigh in on problems that they see, concerns, and whether there is the need for more testing.  If there is, then that same sourceforge distribution can be used as a public beta.

Does this sound like a good idea?  Any other feedback or ideas?

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers