[Opensim-dev] Stable Branch pt III Was: RFC: Changing default script engine to xengine

[Stefan Andersson]

> > Since trunk is currently considered anything but stable, are people > > feeling up for trying out branching a stable version before we do this, > > and then actually work on that branch to stabilize it? > > I'm actually much more drawn to the idea that Adam proposed about a month ago (and which I was negative on at the time) > that we start labeling odd minor versions as unstable and even versions as stable (please correct me if I misinterpreted > this). Therefore, when we tag 0.6.1 on the trunk this could perhaps be labeled as 0.6.1-unstable.> > The idea would be that the period between 0.6.1 and 0.6.2 would be as short as possible. In that period we would > refrain from making any changes that we think could destabilize the build, and preferably concentrate on those which > would improve stability. Once we're happy that the trunk is in a reasonable state then we would tag 0.6.2-stable and > move on with the next set of somewhat riskier changes.
If I understand the process, I concur with its merits. Basically the whole project group would swing back and forth between adding features and adding stability, much like it's already de facto doing. Knowing in what state the group is in, is done by looking at latest tag?
 
Then again, during 'unstable', we would still benefit from being able to patch stabilizing fixes back onto the last 'stable', so there might be something to be said for keeping a 'stable' branch during the 'unstable' periods?
 
But given that the current status is that 0.6.0-stable is closing on being 6 weeks old, I would say that this approach risk halting people to the point  where they just drop it. And, consequently, stables could be more than 3 months apart.
 
Which means that in that case, we need to start setting release deadlines up not to slide into absurdity. Maybe odd and even months? 0.6.12 for december, meaning december is 'stability' month?
 
I can run with that. A stable every 2 months is ok.
> On reflection this is very similar to a release candidate scheme, so perhaps this could be 0.6.1-rc and 0.6.1 instead > for unstable and stable respectively.
In such a scheme yes it should.
> This scheme has the advantage of making it more likely that we do put effort into stabilization (since it isn't possible > to plow on regardless with trunk and leave the stable branch in a siding). We also know that there is some success in > having people hold back big changes before a stable revision (as with 0.6.0).
At this point in time, I'm willing to try anything. For sure, adding features in parallell with trying to debug and add stability makes the latter more difficult as you try to analyze a moving target.
> One disadvantage is that this probably wouldn't as controlled as a stable branch (since I would anticipate that we would > still make normal changes that weren't purely aimed at stability unless we become much more disciplined that we have > been historically).
*shrug*
 
We don't know until we test.
> Also, this plays towards my biases for the agile methodology of always having a trunk that we can 'ship' and that > approach of writing unit tests to help ensure more continual trunk stability.
 
Hey, you're preaching to the choir.
 
> Such a scheme may not suit your needs
 
It sure does.
 
> and > I hope that OpenSim can pull in more stability patches that have perhaps been kept private out of technical necessity > (not out of philosophy). So I have no problem at all if we want to go ahead with trying to stabilize a branch, though I > would be fairly concerned if this meant that trunk would become unstable for more extended periods of time.
Actually, the 'stable' initiative was so that we COULD start applying stabilizing fixes to the OpenSim repo with reasonable effort.
So, should we take this up to the vote then? I'd say that we want a period of stbailizing before switching to XEngine.
 
Which means we should just tag current 0.6.0-stable as 0.6.1 now and consider trunk 0.6.2-rc, working towards tagging it as 0.6.2 (Or 0.6.12...) if I understand you correctly?
 
/Stefan
 
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