[QGIS-Developer] [Qgis-psc] QGIS LTR releases -- is it time to pull the plug?

Tue Nov 16 03:21:16 PST 2021

+1 To everything Bo Victor says, thanks for covering everything I wanted 
to say!

In training / education / teaching (in my experience) materials are 
usually written for the latest LTR versions, so they don't need to be 
updated too frequently.

Best wishes,
Nick.

On 16/11/2021 11:00, Bo Victor Thomsen wrote:
>
> Hi all -
>
> I have a few comments  regarding the possible removal of the "QGIS LTR 
> versions" ( as one of the original proponents for having a LTR version ) :
>
>   * The LTR version is the version that almost /all/ QGIS-using
>     /organisations/ in Denmark is using. That means 40 - 50 % of all
>     municipalities, regions (counties) and a number of state
>     departments. And a lot of private companies too.  They use it
>     mostly in conjunction with some kind of "Web GIS" and have QGIS
>     for the hard and complex stuff. This market penetration is on par
>     with ESRI and better than MapInfo. As a treasurer of the QGIS
>     Denmark User group I've registered 85 Danish organisational
>     members out of 260 members. And this number is growing. So there
>     is a large and growing number of QGIS users, that prefer the  LTR
>     version (actually the vast majority if you count the individual
>     users in the organisations) .
>     The yearly fee from these organisational members is in large part
>     the reason why QGIS Denmark has a Gold sponsorship of QGIS.
>
>     I don't know about other countries, but I /guess, /that
>     preferences in organisations is roughly the same: They prefer
>     stability and as few errors as possible. And thirdly new glitzy
>     features
>
>   * I we ditch the LTR versions,  I fear that an old nemesis will
>     resurface: That there is not /any /version of QGIS that is really
>     stable:  A small irritating bug in ver. x will be solved in ver.
>     x+1. However ver. x+1 contains another small irritating bug, that
>     will be solved in version x+2 ....
>
>     I know that the development process for QGIS has evolved
>     tremendously the last couple of years. However, I still remember
>     the "bad old days" with "no responsibility" for killing bugs in
>     existing code caused by introduction of new code.
>
>   * In my experience, the 1 - year period for LTR is the shortest
>     period acceptable for organisations. They don't want to repackage
>     QGIS every 6 months and certainly not every 4 months. You might
>     even let the period be 1.5- 2 years instead of 1 year.
>
>   * The quagmire of ver. 3.16... Isn't it a combination of a
>     relatively old version of QGIS fine tuned to a set of support
>     libraries, where the support libraries gets upgraded "an masse"
>     because OsGeo4W gets upgraded from v1 to v2.; SIP gets upgraded
>     from v4 to v6. And the proj library goes through several upgrades
>     from v4 to v8 ? I my perspective that's a receipt for "The perfect
>     storm". If it can't be fixed, then freeze it at 3.16.11 and
>     fast-promote ver. 3.22 as LTR, perhaps with a big warning sign on it.
>     This it not a critique of the upgrade process. Every piece of
>     software, including supporting libraries has to be upgraded from
>     time to time. However I count 3 major upgrades of libraries on the
>     same time
>     NB! Just read Jürgen's posting on ver. 3.16.14 being released on 
>     friday. If it works, then that's solves the ver. 3.16 issues for me.
>
>   * I know, bug squashing is nobody's favourite programming
>     discipline. Especially if you not are paid for doing it. Hence the
>     need for bug squashin by payment. So what about trying to reach
>     out to the large (or small) sponsors and ask them if they could
>     put some extra coins in the pot earmarked for LTR ? I can't solely
>     speak for QGIS Denmark User group, but I would certainly discuss
>     this problem with other members of the board and eventually the
>     general assembly. And we have some contacts with the other QGIS
>     usergroups i Scandinavia. The Swiss usergroup could for example
>     talk with the german usergroup (I know the problem is not based on
>     language, but sometimes it's easier to promote an idea with people
>     talking roughly the same language)
>
>     So how much money are we talking about ?
>
> Whatever that's decided regarding the LTR, I personally still will be 
> a staunch supporter of QGIS. But please don't throw the baby out with 
> the bathwater without due consideration and without trying alternative 
> solutions.
>
> Med venlig hilsen / Kind regards
>
> Bo Victor Thomsen
> Den 16-11-2021 kl. 09:22 skrev Alessandro Pasotti:
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 16, 2021 at 8:50 AM Marco Bernasocchi <marco at qgis.org> wrote:
>>
>>     Hi Anita, Hi Nyall, Hi All
>>     I think that it is a good idea to allocate the first half hour
>>     (and more if needed) in tonight's budget meeting to this very
>>     pressing subject.
>>     Nyall, thanks a lot for your analysis, we'll use it as discussion
>>     base.
>>
>>     I extended the meeting invitation from 18:00 to 19:30.
>>
>>     See you later
>>     Marco
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> thinking about how to possibly prevent this to happen again I think 
>> that the manual testing cycles as proposed with 
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/qgis-psc/2020-December/009186.html 
>> could help in identifying biggest issues before a release.
>>
>> I think we should consider the possibility of investing in that 
>> direction.
>>
>> Kind regards.
>>
>> -- 
>> Alessandro Pasotti
>> QCooperative: www.qcooperative.net <https://www.qcooperative.net>
>> ItOpen: www.itopen.it <http://www.itopen.it>
>>
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-- 
Nick Bearman
Tel / WhatsApp / Signal: +44 (0) 7717745715
nick at geospatialtrainingsolutions.co.uk

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