[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] Proposal to change Evergreen versioning scheme

[Lazar, Alexey Vladimirovich]

Hello.

I would like to propose a change to the official Evergreen versioning scheme. Rather than then the current scheme that attempts to tie version numbers to various code changes, I propose that we switch to a more simple and predictable calendar-related scheme that better aligns with the new release schedule.

Issues with the current versioning scheme:
* The current scheme is code-centric, complicated and not generally useful: http://www.open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=versioning
* More importantly, the current scheme is not being followed as described
* The current scheme creates a perception that Evergreen is stagnating - version 2 since 2010
* Under the current scheme Evergreen will reach version 3 in 2016(!)

I am proposing a scheme that would tie major version numbers to the last digit of the current calendar year. Under the new scheme, the next major release version would be 3, which I will use for examples below.

Option 1:
* The first major release of the year would be 3.0, the second major release would be 3.1.
* Minor releases: 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and so on

Option 2:
* The first major release of the year would be 3.1, the second major release would be 3.2.
* Minor releases: 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.2.1, 3.2.2 and so on

Option 3: 
* The first major release of the year would be 3.4, the second major release would be 3.9
* Minor releases: 3.4.1, 3.4.2, 3.9.1, 3.9.2 and so on

So, just wanted to throw this out there, again [1], to see what people think.

My proposal is based on this post by Bill Erickson and the discussion that followed:
1. http://libmail.georgialibraries.org/pipermail/open-ils-dev/2012-May/008203.html

P.S. Should this scheme be adopted, the next version is an excellent opportunity to switch to it smoothly. However, I would like to suggest that it is time to jump to version 3 regardless of whether the versioning scheme is changed officially.

Aleksey Lazar
PALS
IS Developer and Intergrator
507-389-2907
http://www.pals.org/
alexey.lazar at mnsu.edu