[OPEN-ILS-GENERAL] alpha2 Wrap-up; beta1 Deadlines [RM2.5]

[Dan Wells]

Hello all,

The alpha2 commit push wrapped up just over a week ago, and with it, we continued our steady march toward 2.5.  How steady?  Well, if you were at the dev meeting last week, you already know, but I will recap for the rest.  So far, we have had 4 major milestones (m1, m2, alpha1, and alpha2).  Here are the number of branches committed to master within each milestone period:

1.      For m1 - 35 branches merged
2.      For m2 - 40 branches merged
3.      For alpha1 - 30 branches merged
4.      For alpha2 - 35 branches merged

So, a grand total of 140 branches, and a mean (and median and mode, for that matter) of 35 branches per milestone.

If you are interested in seeing what made it in for alpha2, you can see the work here:

https://launchpad.net/evergreen/+milestone/2.5.0-alpha2

Also, for the first time this release cycle, there are also tarballs/executables for those who want to give them a look:

http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/Evergreen-ILS-2.5-alpha2.tar.gz
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/Evergreen-ILS-2.5-alpha2.tar.gz.md5
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-client-2.5-alpha2_i686.tar.bz2
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-client-2.5-alpha2_i686.tar.bz2.md5
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-client-2.5-alpha2_x86_64.tar.bz2
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-client-2.5-alpha2_x86_64.tar.bz2.md5
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-setup-2.5-alpha2.exe
http://evergreen-ils.org/downloads/previews/evergreen-setup-2.5-alpha2.exe.md5

While each milestone had its issues, and some had some ups and downs, the amount of work we have been able to accomplish by coming together when called upon has been remarkably consistent.  Thanks again to those who have responded to these calls.

That said, it isn't all good news.  We have arrived at September, and while we have come a long way, we still haven't been able to get ahead.  What does this mean for 2.5?  Realistically, it means we are going to need to compromise, and try to reign in the release in a responsible fashion.  The release may end up late, but we need to do everything possible to make sure it isn't too late.  The release may leave out a few things we'd all like included, but with enough effort, we won't have to leave out too much.

That brings us to one of the most important dates of any release; feature freeze.  For 2.5, the last day for targeting features will be next Tuesday, September 10.  I'd love to give more time, but it is crucial to get 2.5 out the door and make way for 2.6.  Following that, the last day to review and commit for beta1 will be Monday, September 16 (since it is also important to make way for the Hack-a-Way :) )

In addition, next Wednesday I am going to go through every open 2.5-beta1 bug ticket and select 35 to designate (via tagging) as beta-blockers.  Based on our collective track record, that is the number of tickets we can expect to review and commit for a milestone, so I am hoping this tagging process can direct our focus to get the most time-essential branches merged, with an emphasis on new features (due to feature freeze) and broadly-applicable bugs.

As always, please feel free to let me know if you have any comments or concerns about the release process.

Thanks,
Dan


Daniel Wells
Library Programmer/Analyst
Hekman Library, Calvin College
616.526.7133



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