Re: beta release and freeze plans
On Thu, Nov 06, 2003 at 11:37:52AM -0500, Joey Hess wrote:
> It's time to get a beta release out and get some wider testing. There are
> some things that are very obviously broken still, such as mkreiserfs
> hanging. I've collected the worst issues at the top of the TODO. I suggest
> that we take three more days to try to resolve as many of those isses as we
> can. That's not much time, but there are not many of these issues, and
> we'll halt work on anything else, except for safe stuff (translations,
> template cleanup, etc), to avoid breaking the installer with lots of other
> last minute changes. Then we document the remaining issues as known bugs,
> and put out the beta release on Sunday.
>
> Then I suggest that we go into a light freeze of the installer. No changes
> to core components that can break other stuff (so no significant
> modifications to libdebian-installer, cdebconf's core (but UI fixes are
> ok), anna, main-menu, etc). If you absolutly have to make big changes,
> you'll have to do it in a branch, and in experimental. I think this freeze
> should last a month, and we can take this time to do a lot of important
> stuff:
>
> - Polish all the templates.
> - Give the porters a less moving target, and a month to get a port done.
> We should aim to complete at least two ports in this month.
> - Get translations 100% up-to-date, against a less moving target.
> (This may involve a 1 week "string freeze".)
> - Find and fix UI problems, like backup support everywhere.
> - Get a coherent set of debian-installer images and udebs into the
> testing distribution, so that Debian can include d-i in its own
> freeze and beta release as part of its release cycle.
> - Gather lots and lots of installation reports.
> - Get major missing subsystems (wireless, ppp, etc) fully working.
> - Add more filesystem types, more hardware support, raid, whatever.
> All the stuff that just involves adding a new udeb to the installer.
> - Finish the user manual.
> - Figure out any major architectural changes we will need to do later.
>
> After this month of er, frost, we'll have a nicely polished version of the
> installer to release, and a good idea of what the big unfixed bugs in that
> release will be. So we'll take stock and decide whether we need to open the
> tree back up to large changes for a while (and for how long), or whether we
> can go into a firmer freeze. Then rinse, lather, repeat until done.
I object.
It is ok for me to wait until monday for the new powerpc packages to be
added, and the kernel-di stuff to be adapted to them, but i will sure as
hell not wait 1 month for that.
Also, i don't particularly care about how this freeze did happen (of the
kind we will freeze two days from now, don't care if half the stuff is
broken, etc ...). This is no way to threat the other debian-installer
developer, setting freezes on a whim without proper notice.
Also don't use the excuse that you were speaking about a freeze since a
long time, i have repeteadly listed my plans for the powerpc packages
here since Oldenbourg, and even told you as you were polishing the build
script for powerpc last week.
Friendly,
Sven Luther
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