[Qgis-user] Thoughts on QGIS Development and LTR Releases

Sat Feb 29 23:27:31 PST 2020

Hello, 

some remarks from someone who is still learning QGIS, having started in July 2018. 

I have to deal with very different software in my job, GIS being just a part of a larger set, and I cannot dive deep into it every day. This may not be the common case, but I can imagine, it is not terribly uncommon either. 

In only 18 months since I started using QGIS I had the pleasure to deal with the releases 2.14, 2.18. 3.4, and from now on 3.10 -- already knowing that 3.12 will be out soon. People I asked for help and tutorials I read or saw on YouTube all used different versions. 

I am not yet accustomed to QGIS as a whole, but versions are steadily changing, tutorials are changing, it is hard to keep up with it and to separate which tutorials are for the version I am dealing with at the moment. Not to speak about GRASS or GDAL or OGR issues that somehow turned up during upgrade. And there are problems with features that are said here and there to be not reliable (like in GeoPackages), but I cannot get hold of whether these problems are now solved.

I am impressed with the progress of QGIS, the 3.4 version is definitely a lot easier to "get" than the earlier versions. Version 3.10 has some exciting features, and tutorials are already leaving version 3.4 behind, so that I just decided to upgrade now. -- But then, new versions are already going to be deployed soon, and I know I will be outdated when I start to really use 3.10. 

For people like me a change in the LTR cycle to two years would be wonderful. Point releases with only bug fixes and nightly builds for preparing the next LTR would be most helpful for people like me who are new to the software and use it only as one among many tools. This would guarantee that tutorials and documentation get complete for a certain version, that features are really stable. 

Other users are of course keen on getting new and better features as soon as possible. And I see the problem with testing for bugs, for which interim versions and nightly builds are helpful. 

This mail is not intended as a complain or a request for changing the LTR cycle -- although I would definitely welcome that. I just wanted to explain the point of view of a user who is less into the software and who would be glad to have less "noise" to separate from the real information. This mailing list is exceptionally helpful, tutorials and documentation are very helpful as well. 

All the best and thanks to everybody who is involved in this wonderful software,

M. Shinoto

> Am 01.03.2020 um 13:00 schrieb Alexandre Neto <senhor.neto at gmail.com>:
> 
> Hello Iain,
> 
> Please notice that LTR versions last for 12 months already. We are now starting a new cycle with 3.10 as LTR and 3.4 receives patch during the last year. Meanwhile, there has been some discussion about making the LTR last for 2 years.
> 
> Regarding documentation, as you said, it's volunteer work. And because our lovely developers never stop adding new features, it's really hard to keep up and we end up delaying the LTR documentation release for some time. I suggest you try using the QGIS testing documentation for now as we are still trying to catch up with all the work done since 3.4 (including some features from 3.10). We still have a bunch of features to document, but we should be releasing Documentation for 3.10 soon.
> 
> https://docs.qgis.org/testing/en/docs/
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Alexandre Neto
> 
> On Sat, Feb 29, 2020 at 9:56 PM <Iain at jcis.net.au> wrote:
> Maybe because I am an archaeologist, but I have always thought that Long Term is a bit longer than a few months. In practical terms running QGIS in an organisation you want the stability of LTR for at least 12 months so that people can be trained and comfortable in using QGIS. I have found that the documentation and training materials do not keep up with the changes and as a new started it is disconcerting to follow the documentation and see a totally different screen when doing one of the steps. Having the stability of the LTR allows for training and documentation to keep up (especially since this is a voluntary effort) and for users who are using QGIS as a tool simply to get on with their work.
> 
> 
> 
> I would vote for a LRT being defined as not changed for 12 months.
> 
> 
> 
> I would disagree with the point that ArcGIS is better documented than QGIS. My experience with my project team is that they found the various videos and training in QGIS enough to get them going from scratch (i.e. what is this you are doing?) to doing professional maps and limited analysis in QGIS in about a fortnight. I think that the variety of documentation also helps.
> 
> 
> 
> I would also note that although ArcGIS Desktop is updated on a regular basis I have absolutely no idea what actually changes except that I loose all my setups and styles with every upgrade. I suspect most of the ESRI love goes elsewhere or the changes are in the various very expensive addons.  
> 
> 
> 
> Dr Iain Stuart
> 
> JCIS Consultants
> 
> P.O. Box 2397
> 
> Burwood North
> 
> NSW, 2134
> 
> 
> 
> (02) 9701 0191
> (0413) 380116 (m)
> 
> 
> 
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