Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:47:21 +0100 (BST) From: Robert Watson <rwatson@FreeBSD.org> To: Jo Rhett <jrhett@netconsonance.com> Cc: freebsd-stable <freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.org>, Wesley Shields <wxs@FreeBSD.org>, Nathan Way <nathan@datanode.com>, Ben Kaduk <minimarmot@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Upcoming Releases Schedule... Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.1.10.0809162043380.64176@fledge.watson.org> In-Reply-To: <2742CAB1-8FF2-425D-A3B6-0658D7DB8F4D@netconsonance.com> References: <1219409496.10487.22.camel@bauer.cse.buffalo.edu> <593618A3-56DA-4891-A4A0-690E9A9C5B32@netconsonance.com> <F17BE4F1F989BB4A81EB94C36712A9736F3493@dni-mail.datanode.com> <20080904133604.GB1188@atarininja.org> <CB36FE28-D125-4C22-B5DE-1001515DD8A6@netconsonance.com> <47d0403c0809051319r3c82f87bhdb15ce5b0167987a@mail.gmail.com> <alpine.BSF.1.10.0809061159410.28840@fledge.watson.org> <2742CAB1-8FF2-425D-A3B6-0658D7DB8F4D@netconsonance.com>
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On Mon, 15 Sep 2008, Jo Rhett wrote: > On Sep 6, 2008, at 4:06 AM, Robert Watson wrote: >> Unfortunately, it's a little hard to tell at time-of-release whether a >> particular release will become extended life or not. This is because >> extended support status is dependent on the success of the release ... >> from earlier branch adopters. How long we keep release 6.x releases will >> depend entirely on how successful 7.x is; I think there's a reasonable >> expectation that 6.4 or 6.5 will be the last 6.x release, in which case we >> would want to grant it extended support status. But what happens depends a >> lot on how successful 7.1 is. My hopes are high, but there's nothing like >> real-world deployment to shed light on things :-). > > Robert, I'd like to point out to you that when I complained about 6.2's > accelerated EoL, I was soundly boxed around the ears and told that I should > have been paying attention to the projected EoL date when we decided to roll > out 6.2 across the business. > > I was also told that I should have been more active in the release cycle > process for 6.3, etc. > > Now you are saying that expected EoL will be determined at some random point > in the future based on gut feelings about how well a completely different > branch is doing. > > How can I reconcile these disparate points of view? How does one focus on > testing and upgrade cycle for an "appropriately supported release" when the > decision for the support cycle is completely up in the air? The FreeBSD Project, as with any other company or organization, responds to events as they occur. We try to plan ahead, and when things go better or worse than expected, we sometimes change the plans. As far as I know we've never *shortened* the expected support timeline for any branch or release, but we have on occasion lenthened them when we feel it's important to do so. I'm not sure what other answer is possible. Robert N M Watson Computer Laboratory University of Cambridge
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