[Qgis-developer] Stability (2.8 LTS) vs development (3.0), a proposed way forward

[Mathieu Pellerin]

Guys,

The recent thread Nyall kick-started with his  “QGIS 3.0?” email got me to
think about the eternal stability vs. development dilemma it (re-)exposed
through the conversation.

More specifically, it got me to brainstorm on the best way forward for QGIS
at this juncture and whether there's a way to accommodate both the folks
calling for a 2.8 LTS version, and others in need for space to further
develop and expand QGIS' capability.

And, I might just have found a way to do so. Here's the proposal, in a
couple of points:

- We make the 2.8 development cycle “fix and refinement”-only, and reduce
the cycle's length to 6 to 8 weeks;
- The reduced cycle will help everyone's focus on the above goal;
- We append the freed 8-10 weeks to the subsequent development cycle, which
would become QGIS 3.0;
- The expanded cycle will help give space to develop some of the exciting
features being cooked by developers (Nyall's Layouts, Marco's Geometry
redesign, etc.) and bulletproof those.

This, IMHO, caters to both groups demanding stability and space for
development. It doesn't discourage or delay too much the grand scheme
changes, and pushes out a 2.8 version focused on stability through a
shorter cycle focusing on delivering a perfected tool.

The above proposal does require a momentary lapse of the nice 4-month
release cycle rhythm which the QGIS has successfully maintained for three
releases now. But, it might actually be what's needed at this very time.
Plus, the length of the two cycles stays the same, 8 months.

Comments? I'm obviously particularly interested in what Jürgen has to say :)

Cheers

Math
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