[373] in Release_7.7_team
re: what's a release?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mike Barker)
Thu Nov 9 18:03:27 1995
To: release-team@MIT.EDU
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 1995 18:03:04 EST
From: Mike Barker <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
for those who hadn't seen it...
------- Forwarded Message
To: mbarker@MIT.EDU, wdc@MIT.EDU
Subject: what's a release?
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 1995 10:08:34 EST
From: Dorothy Bowe <dot@MIT.EDU>
Content-Length: 2845
Okay, here is my first draft at answering the question. It's all MHO,
so feel free to argue with anything I said. Oh, and it's kind of long.
I hope you didn't expect a one sentence answer :-)
dot
What is a release?
This question has been asked almost as often as the one, "What is
Athena?", and probably has just as many answers. Like most complicated
questions, the answer given to the question, "What is a release?"
depends both on the person giving the answer and the audience. While
there is probably no single correct answer, a good answer will
incorporate these differing views.
First of all, there is the release from the technical or developer's
viewpoint. In this instance, a release is both a set of programs,
files, directories and links, and the process by which they are made
available to the client workstations and user community. Technically, a
release is the set of things delivered via system packs and the process
of taking a source tree and building these packs, as well as installing
and updating client workstations.
Secondly, there is the release according to the user community. One
could argue that many users view a release as a mystical event that
changes the environment in which they do their work. Or, as sometimes
is the case, a release is a enormous beast that prevents them from doing
what they need to do because it can't be changed. More practically, for
users a release pretty much *is* the work environment.
Finally, there is the release from the historical release teams'
viewpoint. The release team views a release as a co-ordination effort
that takes a list of changes to the computing environment, and shepards
them from conception through implementation to delivery and support. In
some ways, the release team spans the divide between the technical
definition of a release and the customer's point of view.
For example, technically speaking, olh is not in the release because the
actual programs resize in a locker instead of on the srvd. However,
most users consider help part of the work environment and therefore the
release team expands the scope of a release to ensure that help
continues to work. In the same way, the release team will view a
release in such a way as to consider issues such as where X lockers
mount, or how a change in operating system will affect third party
software installed in lockers.
So, back to the original question: What is a release anyway? A release
is the effort which co-ordinates changes to the computing environment
and a process by which changes are made. Because of the current
implementation, a release must include all changes made to software
currently delivered via the system packs, but it (should) also
include(s) changes that affect other systems or programs and require
co-ordination across Teams and Processes.
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