Re: Releases in three months?

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 7:38 PM, Àlex Fiestas <[email protected]> wrote:
> Hi there, how is the promo team doing?
>
> Today I've sent a proposal to kde-core-devel about  making a release every 3
> months. While developers discuss on that list whether it works for them or
> not I'd like to ask you separately your PoV on the matter.
>
> It has been brought by Nuno in the kcd thread that kde-promo won't be able
> to make a good job if we switch to a 3 month release cycle, so I want to ask
> you what things (if any) we can do to make it happen.
>
> This is the thread I'm talking about:
> http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-core-devel&m=137331442528841&w=2
>
> You can find original reply from Nuno here:
> http://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-core-devel&m=137331586706259&w=2
>
> So, what can we do to make a 3 month release work?
>
> Thanks and cheers !
>
>

This idea needs more thought in my view.

What is the impact on users?
I do very little with the technical end of KDE. Mostly I work with
users and user groups. KDE releases are newsworthy. Making small
releases more often removes much of the newsworthiness. If the
releases are small and nearly inconsequential, then they really aren't
releases.

Doing releases without details about its contents is a mistake. In my
view, releasing an application with no publicity is the same as not
releasing it. There is some chance, but no certainty, that people who
are already using an app will notice that the app has changed. It has
often happened that I and others read about cool new stuff in the next
release and anticipate it.

Comparing the entirety of the KDE major releases with web or mobile
daily releases is a red herring. They don't share much of a
resemblance, particularly as they affect how applications are used.
Changes can be made to a web app and all users get the update. That's
not how KDE software works.

The title of the BoF at Akademy is "New KDE SC Release schedule". It
would be more accurate to have that be "Proposed more frequent release
schedule", which would make a difference for people who may want to be
involved.

As I'm writing this, a new message arrived from Ingo Klöcker. I
understand what he's written. Regarding the Raymond citation, the
missing piece for me is "And listen to your customers." What hard
input do we have from users that they want releases more often? What
mechanisms do we have for listening to customers?

Rather than addressing the question "What can kde-promo do to make it
happen?", I'd prefer something more along the lines of "We're thinking
of smaller and more frequent releases. What do you think of that?"

I'm skeptical that we can get as much promo mileage out of this
approach as we do with major releases. Marketing and promo are already
substantial challenges, so that might be a problem.

Despite these comments, as you know, folks from the kde-promo team
will do everything possible to support whatever program shows up. I
appreciate creative ideas that go against the grain.

Another thought...
Smaller releases more often would reduce the amount of work that goes
into release announcements. Further, it might be interesting to
feature individual applications, improvements and so forth. Since last
Akademy, there have been few product announcements. So people don't
really get the scope of what the KDE Community offers.

If we feature more individual applications, there would still be the
need for developer input. It seems like this might change the dynamics
of developer involvement.

Carl

_______________________________________________
This message is from the kde-promo mailing list.

Visit https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-promo to unsubscribe, set digest on or temporarily stop your subscription.