[175] in Release_7.7_team
Meeting minutes 10/14/94
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dorothy Bowe)
Mon Oct 17 10:36:34 1994
To: release-team@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 1994 10:36:11 EDT
From: Dorothy Bowe <dot@MIT.EDU>
[Thanks to JJ for the notes. Any inaccuracies are mine. -- dot]
In attendance: Kevin, Anne S., Craig, Matt, Mark, Carla, Dot, Gary,
Mike
Handouts: (4 sides) Suggestion list thus far, description of items
from software-suggestions
Pre-agenda item
0.1 What should we call ourselves?
We reached the decision to create a mailing list called
release-team@mit for all release-related email activity. For the
present time, this mailing list includes the current release discuss
meeting, menelaus:/usr/spool/discuss/release-77, but at some point
in the future we'll switch over to a new discuss meeting explicitly
for the next major release, presumably release 7.8.
Email: release-team@mit.edu (release team members only)
Discuss: menelaus:/usr/spool/discuss/release-77 (public)
Agenda
1.1 Tentative Schedule for the Release
First Field Release early June 1995
Staff Test ~ May
Friendly/Beta Test ~ April
Code Cut it depends
This schedule led into a discussion of how proposed changes in
development and release engineering would affect what we think of as
the release cycle. Many of the details of these changes are still
being worked out and are beyond the scope of the release team
itself, but the general points which are pertinent to the team are:
* Source tree builds occurring on a regular basis. This should
eliminate some amount of time in past release schedules
between code cut and first round of testing.
* Regular releases of new system packs for front line testers.
This should allow integration of new features and/or fixes on
a regular basis instead of a crunch at "code cut". It would
also get some features out for earlier testing and encourage a
year-round development cycle.
Thus, the code cut date we talk about is strictly for inclusion in a
particular release; code which misses that date can still, in
theory, be incorporated for inclusion in the next or a later
release. ** All of this is still subject to change as the details
of these processes are worked out. **
Code cut for "Release 7.8" translates roughly to
Operating System upgrades February
"Major" pieces/changes mid March
Other mid April
[A discussion ensued about the release team, controlling/accessing
resources and how it relates to what we put into the release. For more
details, see me.]
1.2 Possibility of a release in January
We have a window of opportunity to have some kind of release in
January on one or more platforms. Whether or not we take advantage
of this window depends on whether there are sufficient items for
such a release.
We throw the terms "patch", "release", and "minor release" around
without precise meanings, making it difficult to differentiate
between the window of opportunity in January and the recent patch
for Solaris. One difference is that a complete (major) release
involves a rebuild of the source tree, while a patch such as the one
we put out recently involves only specific programs and files.
>> Proposed items for January "release" will come from call for
release suggestions.
1.3 What do we have to do?
First task for the release team is to come up with a proposed list
of items for the next release(s). This should be completed by
mid-November for approval by the release teams sponsor. Other tasks
are tentatively:
Dec/Jan possible release of some sort
by February "What Should Run" list update
Detailed list for next release
(ongoing) consider additional input
March-June usual release activity
June/July updates to release
2.X Input for next release(s)
The seed list for suggestion items was included in the handouts and
consisted of:
* Items which did not make it into Release 7.7
* Items from software-suggestions
* Items from dcns-dev (thanks mike!)
Dot will send out a request for input for this list. Suggestions
may be sent to release-team@mit.edu and should include a description
of the item as well as some indication of why it should be included
in a release.
3.X Next steps
* Get input for suggestion list
* Next meeting:
Thursday, Oct 27 10:30 AM in E40-357
* Anne S. suggested an additional item for the next meeting: Taking
things *out* of the release.
Action Items:
Carla: create mailing list (done)
Dot: send out request for input
