[sword-devel] On the need for regular releases of Sword libs

[Kahunapule Michael Johnson]

Troy A. Griffitts wrote:
> I hate releasing when I know there are outstanding issue.
There are ALWAYS outstanding issues. Every once in a while, we might be
in ignorant bliss and not know about some of them, but there is never a
time when there are no outstanding issues. The question we should be
asking ourselves is "Will the current build be better than the existing
release?" If the answer is "Yes," then an immediate release might be a
good idea. If by next month, you have properly dealt with another issue
and broken nothing new, then release then, too. Release early. Release
often. Act like an open source project that is alive, not stagnant.
>   Maybe because 
> the releases have been so far apart and I feel if I don't get things in, 
> they won't be in for a long time.
>   
The obvious solution: release more frequently.
> It all seems a catch 22.  Developers don't contribute because they don't 
> see their work released.  I won't release because developers won't 
> contribute and fix the outstanding bugs... yada yada. (Did you know 
> 'YADA' mean 'I Know' in Hebrew?)
>   
The obvious solution is to release for any bug fixed, not for all known
bugs fixed. If there are 10 known bugs in the current release, and only
2 are fixed, who benefits if you wait for the other 8 to be fixed before
doing an interim release? A release doesn't mean that bug fixes must stop.
> So, I would like to commit to regular releases for your team, the 
> Bibletime team, and others using the engine.
Good. I was thinking a branch in the project might be necessary to get
things moving again... but didn't have the bandwidth to lead such a
revolt myself. :-)
>   I don't think I could 
> commit to quarterly releases right now.  I agree we definitely need to 
> release more than once a year.  Is there a middle ground we can 
> negotiate between quarterly and biannually?
>   
I think Canonical has it right with a 6-month release cycle for Ubuntu
Linux. There is nothing like a deadline for motivating action.
> We also could be more disciplined doing point releases of bug fixes.
To my way of thinking, bug fix releases don't have to wait for any new
feature releases. Severe bug fixes should never wait for the next
scheduled release. Waiting longer than it takes to actually fix the bug
just harms your reputation.
> So, in response, I say "Yes, thank you for the kick in the butt (and the 
> previous kick in the butt by Martin from Bibletime-- to which I had 
> mentally queue this message).
>   
Nobody would "kick" you about this unless it mattered to them. Consider
it a compliment. :-)

Now, if I could just get MacSword, etc.,  to correctly display a current
revision of the World English Bible without throwing away white space, I
would get fewer complaints to the editor...

Shalom,
Michael