[gdal-dev] Reconsidering release cycle length ?

[Eli Adam]

On Mon, Apr 27, 2020 at 10:20 AM Even Rouault
<even.rouault at spatialys.com> wrote:
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> One year between feature versions is quite a lot. Perhaps 6 months would be a good compromise between having enough time to mature a complex feature and faster delivery of it to people not directly consuming master. A consequence of this is that our usual policy of supporting the last released branch during the development cycle of the next release would also go to 6 month (to avoid supporting too many branches at the same time), or perhaps even 4 (see below example)
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> I've also heard voices wishing to have more frequent bugfix releases. Every 2 months could be reasonable.
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> Of course depending on what comes to master, things could be reconsidered to let a bit more time for maturing a feature if needed, so 6 months is more an indication than a firm delay. This is also dependent on people doing the actual work. I'll do my share, but help always welcome.
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Perhaps another perspective on this is that since GDAL has a longer
release cycle, supports releases for a long time, is a fairly
innovative library with new drivers, new features, and improvements;
it compels people to track master and engage the project.  This
provides reliable testing for the project on various compilers,
hardware architecture, novel driver combinations, conflicts with other
software, and many other things that won't ever be fully covered in CI
type things.  If people were not compelled to track master, then this
engagement with the project might be reduced or pushed to releases
with a less interactive feedback (i.e. they won't be testing patches
or recent commits).  From my own personal experience, GDAL has been
the only project worth tracking master and engaging in this way.
Other projects, I wait for the release and take a binary and am less
in a position to provide testing or meaningful feedback.  Tracking
master and engaging with GDAL has been a rewarding experience for me
over the years.

Just another way to look at this.  I'm not sure if release cycle would
impact the number of people tracking master or the level of engagement
there but it might be worth considering.

I notice mostly Even's work on releases.  People wanting bug releases
more frequently could start by helping on releases.

Best regards, Eli


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> Thoughts ?
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> Even
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