[Koha-devel] Some explanations about release cycle (& 2.2.2b)

[Paul POULAIN]

Hi all,
(I write this message to clarify some things after an IRC chat shaun & 
joshua had yesterday)

The release cycle that we have for the Koha project is :
* cvs HEAD branch
- it's the "commit all what you want, don't be afraid to break things" 
branch. So every developper can commit what he want, just writing cvs 
comments during commits. If you commit a great new feature, a mail on 
koha-devel is always welcomed ;-)
- you can modify the DB structure in this branch. 
$KOHAROOT/updater/updatedatabase is the script where all DB changes 
should be done.
- The CVS, when stabilised, will become the 2.4. Once the Release 
Manager thinks that the HEAD is stable enough, he will create a new 
rel_2_4 branch. Then, HEAD become "do what you want" again. the rel_2_4 
branch becoming (or expecting becoming) a stable branch.
- We don't have a Release Manager for 2.4 yet. We may have a candidate 
in the next 2-3 weeks, with a large team to add many many features to 
Koha. I can't officially say who it could be, just keep your fingers 
crossed.

* cvs rel_2_2 branch
This is the stable branch. I am the Release Maintainer for this branch, 
and here are my rules :
1- no changes in DB. I may bypass this rule, but I don't have yet, and 
don't have anything needing to bypass it.
2- no major feature change. I agree we could consider the change in 
authenfication that was in 2.2.2 as a major feature change. The bug that 
needed the 2.2.2b proves we should have ! I will try to be more strict 
with this rule in the future.
3- new features : any could be OK, if it does not need to bypass the 2 
previous one.

I prefer to be the only commiter to this branch, but I don't consider 
being the only owner of this branch. Just commit with extreme care in 
this branch. You also can commit in HEAD and drop me a mail to request 
backporting to rel_2_2, i'll do it if possible.

Important note : there are a lot of things in rel_2_2 that are not in 
HEAD for instance. I'll synch ASAP, promised.

ABOUT 2.2.2b :
this version add NOTHING to 2.2.2 It just fixes the 2 critical bugs 
introduced by 2.2.1 new features. That's why release note have not been 
updated, the DL page has not changed.
I've modified the 2.2.2 tarball and not CVS to be sure to fix just those 
2 bugs.
I'll commit ASAP the fixes in rel_2_2 and in HEAD, promised too ;-)

HTH

-- 
Paul POULAIN
Consultant indépendant en logiciels libres
responsable francophone de koha (SIGB libre http://www.koha-fr.org)