[GRASS5] Suggestion for release methodology

[Justin Hickey]

Hi all

This was taken partly from other mails that were posted before, thanks
to those posters for your ideas.

I would like to suggest a method for creating a release, in particular
5.0 stable, but this could be used for any release.

o Make a list of bugs that we would like to see fixed for 5.0
  (probably the RC list in BUGS)

o Request that developers claim any of these bugs that they think they
  can fix on RT

o After a few days or a week, any remaining bugs are left for 5.1 - if
  nobody claims them they obviously won't be fixed

o Create a branch on CVS for bug fixing (call it 5.0_bugs or something)

o The only commits to this branch are bug fixes (not necessarily only
  those claimed) - other developments are committed to MAIN

o Once all claimed bugs are fixed, tag this branch as pre release 1
  and start the pretest phase as listed in release_rules.txt

One of the keys to this scheme is cooperation among the developers.
Basically the developers have to concentrate on fixing bugs, but those
who cannot fix bugs can still commit features if they wish. Another key
is that the developers should ask Markus if their new code can be
committed to the bug fix branch before committing it, especially if they
are not sure if it should or not. Finally, this will work well if the
time period for the branch to exist is relatively small. That is, the
changes to MAIN are minimal so that merging the branch back after 5.0
stable is released is not a big hassle.

Or as Markus put it

 - have an "exp" all time
 - branch a "stable" from it
 - leave "exp" open for new contributions
 - fix remaining RC bugs in "stable" branch
 - release "stable"
 - merge back fixes from "stable" branch into "exp"
 - continue on "exp" and later build a new "stable" branch, start loop 
   again....

At Markus' request, I added this to the documents/releaseRules.txt file
so please see that file for details. Does anyone have any comments,
criticisms, or questions?

-- 
Sincerely,

Jazzman (a.k.a. Justin Hickey)  e-mail: jhickey at hpcc.nectec.or.th
High Performance Computing Center
National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC)
Bangkok, Thailand
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of us who do.  ---Anonymous

Jazz and Trek Rule!!!
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