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2.6 and 2.7 Release Management
An anonymous reader writes: "A recent discussion on the Linux kernel mailing list debated whether the upcoming 2.6 and 2.7 kernels should be released at the same time instead of first stabilizing the 2.6 'stable tree' then branching the 2.7 'development tree.' The theory behind the proposition is to keep "new" things from going into 2.6 once it is released, focusing instead only on making it stable. On the flip side of this argument is the possibility that with a 2.7 kernel in development, there will be too little focus on stabilizing the 2.6 kernel.
The resulting debate makes for an interesting read."
I would release them at the same time. Just as now, with 2.4 and 2.5, there are people who are very good at stabilizing current code, and people very good at developing new code. Some folks can't stand working on new things when the old need work, and vice versa.
I see this as having two benifits. First, it will help with the ``Most things work pretty well---let's go ahead and release it.'' attitude. The 2.4 series has only recently gotten stable enough to reliably use in a production environment, and not everyone agrees on that even.
Second, it will allow people to focus on what they are good at. The 2.6 series will mature much faster without adding new features in every release. Sure, there are bound to be a few gotchas, but if the focus is on stabilizing the code, they will be out by the 2.6.3 or 2.6.4 release. At the same time, people will be adding to 2.7, which should mean that there is much less time between stable kernel series releases.
I'm all for it!
--Wyatt
Karma: Marginal (mostly due to the border around the website)
Couldn't the problem be solved by brancing the unstable first, then releasing the stable branch when it's ready?
For example, let's say that we're happy with the feature set in the 2.5 unstable series. Instead of putting off waiting for all of the bugs to get shaken out and call it 2.6, just switch from 2.5 to 2.7 on the unstable development side. Linus can pass the reins off to someone he trusts, we can have a GROF (Get Rid Of the Fin) party and his trusted lieutenant can finish stabilizing 2.5 into 2.6 without him.
This solves the problem of wanting to keep back-porting features from 2.7 into 2.6, it allows for time to make sure the 2.5 code is stable before public release as 2.6, and provides a clear feature-freeze mechanism: once Linus is gone, go bugfixes only. If you want the new features, run the unstable kernel or wait for 2.8 (released sometime after 2.9 is branched).
Not that my opinion matters at all, it's just an idea.
"Space Exploration is not endless circles in low earth orbit." -Buzz Aldrin
Slightly offtopic:
It's really frustrating not to have a Linux kernel bug tracking system available. Searching through the huge lkml mailing list just doesn't cut it. And some questions pop back up every month, with no sign of it ever being addressed.
Example: the Athlon/VIA chipset freeze bug. Is it a chipset bug? A bios bug? A kernel bug? Is it fixed? Is it AMD's fault? Is it VIA's? Is it Linus's? Is it a PCI latency problem? An IDE problem?
Who the fuck knows!