Re: [Tails-dev] Release versioning

Delete this message

Reply to this message
Author: sajolida
Date:  
To: The Tails public development discussion list
Subject: Re: [Tails-dev] Release versioning
intrigeri:
> sajolida wrote (10 Aug 2015 16:48:49 GMT) :
>> I might have found a bug in our new version numbering scheme...
>
>> We're saying, regarding the second number, "odd = major" and "even =
>> minor". But at the same time "2.0 = major" (or actually super major).
>> But zero is even [1].
>
> Indeed. I see two potential problems:
>
> 1. The release after 2.0 will be called 2.1, while technically it's
>    supposed to be a point-release and not a major one. However,
>    I suspect that it may contain enough changes (mostly bugfixes) and
>    important changes that were held back while we're stabilizing
>    Tails/Jesie, to be worth calling it a major one, so that's not
>    a blocker IMO.

>
> 2. People who have understood the new version numbering, trust it to
>    the letter, *and* ignore the major number bump, will be confused.
>    I don't think there are many such people, and I don't think it's
>    a blocker either.

>
>> Maybe we should consider using "even = minor" and "odd =
>> major" instead.
>
> Please, no: odd for less stable releases is a widely used convention
> in free software, and using a different one is bound to confuse quite
> a few existing and potential contributors (starting with me).


It seems like we are mixing up two different concepts here, one being
"major/minor" and another one being "stable/unstable". I don't think the
"stable/unstable" concept applies to Tails as all releases have the same
lifetime and are ready for production. We don't have the opposite
concept of "development release".

Since we don't have this concept of stability in Tails it sounds more
logical to me to translate "stable=important" into "major=important".
Important releases being granted even number (such as 1.0).

I read bits of the Wikipedia article on software versioning and
understood what you were referring to:

- The Linux kernel, used between 1.0 and the 2.6.x "odd minor version
numbers to denote development releases and even minor version numbers to
denote stable releases".
- GNOME which uses even for major and odd for development as well.

I feels to me than using "even" for the more important releases and
bigger milestones, thus puts us more in sync with GNOME that doing it
otherwise for example. And makes it more logical to call Tails Jessie
2.0 without workarounds you described.

But I won't fight over it more than that :)