In the release planning discussion, Linus Tolke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> To get the more frequent releases going and to solicit commitments from > developers and make them into plans, we need to spend more time on this. > Since I will not be able to spend considerably more time then I currently > do, my question is who we want to assume the Release Responsible for all > Releases role and make this happen? First, we should all appreciate the work that Linus puts into building the releases. Because it all happens behind the scenes, it isn't clear how much work goes into it, but anyone who's done it will tell you that it's a huge pain in the a**. Having said that, it's something that any number of people could do. On the other hand, decision making about the project is something that only Linus can do, so it needs to have absolute priority to make sure that enough time gets devoted to it. I think there are actually two roles here: Release Manager and Build Master, although they both could be filled by the same person. Release Manager - plans the content, sets the schedule, approves variances, manages risk tradeoffs to approve exceptions to guidelines Build Master - makes sure that the builds run when scheduled, publishes builds to the web site, takes care of the mechanics of "turning the crank" If the build process is fully automated, as it should be, the Build Master's role is really limited to babysitting things to make sure that they don't break and fixing them when they do. The Release Manager role requires more project experience to help make the appropriate tradeoffs vis a vis risk and requires some people management ability to get people to complete their tasks on schedule and make sure nothing falls through the schedule, but it doesn't need to be super complex. The stuff that we need to do for a release doesn't really change. We always have to do alpha & beta releases, write up release notes, write and publish announcements, make sure the translations are updated, make sure the docs are updated, etc, etc. If this stuff isn't already in checklist form, getting it out of peoples' heads and onto paper will help bringing a new Release Manager up to speed. Because being a Release Manager is not only extra work, but the kind of administrative work that isn't a lot of fun for most people, projects often rotate the role and have a different senior developer manage each release. Tom --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
