Scott, Spring Boot 4.2 will not be released until the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027, so I think it is out for Grails 9.0.x and only possible for Grails 9.1.x sometime in Q1 2027. That is the main reason I wrote this post initially.
James On 2026/10/05 17:27:33 Scott Murphy Heiberg wrote: > We need to start pinning releases the the Spring Boot lifecycle instead of > playing catch up all the time. > > There also needs to be time after milestones to identify issues. > Considering we have not released even an M1 of 9, it sounds like this would > be rushing. > > There is a dramatic swing going from 8 to 9 since we released 7 with indy > half baked and 8 with indy fully off. > 9 will have indy on. This will have unknown consequences especially with > plugin transitions. > > There should be milestone releases that allow properly testing the switch. > If we are going to release before 4.2.0 goes final, I feel like that will not > be adequate time to test. > > How many major/minor version combos are we going to maintain? We want to > simultaneously maintain a 9 with 4.1.x and a 9.1.x with 4.2.x? > Who is going to merge up a 7.0.x patch and perform all the releases? > > We got a lot done in 8.0.0 and it took a year. I don't see why we can't pin > to Spring 4.2.0 and release a more refined product that is easier to maintain > in the long run. > We should release 9.0.0-M1 now with Spring Boot 4.2.0-M2. If we do that now, > we can release a stable 9.0.0 with 4.2.0 within days of 4.2.0 releasing. > > -- Scott > > On 2026-10-05 01:04 UTC James Fredley wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > > > The 8.0.0 vote is out, which is is an AWESOME accomplishment. > > > > While that finishes, I want to discuss what we do next, before we spend > > time on the wrong branch. > > > > Proposal: do not release an 8.1.x on Spring Boot 4.2 in Q1 2027. Ship > > 8.0.x, move straight to 9.0.x on Groovy 6 (snapshots already exist), and > > pick up Spring Boot 4.2 in a 9.1.x release after that GA is out. > > > > The schedule would look like this: > > > > - 8.0.0 on Spring Boot 4.1 and Groovy 5 - now > > - 9.0.0 on Spring Boot 4.1 and Groovy 6 targets late November or early > > December. Those snapshots are already running. > > - I expect Spring Boot 4.2 GA around Christmas or early January rather > > than the usual late November window. 4.1 landed in June, about a month > > late. Spring Boot 4.2.0-M2 shipped on 24 September. The 4.2.0-RC1 > > milestone is 29 of 30 issues closed > > (https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/milestone/433). The > > 4.2.0 GA milestone is open, but Spring has not set a due date > > (https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/milestone/434). > > - After Spring Boot 4.2 GA, we release 9.1 on top of 9.0 in Q1 2027 > > - 8.1 stays on the shelf unless we find a real reason to release it. > > > > Two release trains are driving this. We still cut a Grails major when > > Spring Boot cuts a major. Groovy now looks like it will cut a major > > about once a year, and that will also be a Grails major. I do not think > > we should also keep chasing each Spring Boot minor on the old Groovy > > line. Cleaner cutoff: a Grails line stays on the Spring Boot minor it > > shipped with, and the next Spring Boot minor lands on the new Groovy major. > > > > The merge cost is the main reason to skip an 8.1 release. Spring Boot > > 4.2 changes will not apply cleanly to the Groovy 6 work already on > > 9.0.x. They will apply to 9.1, which is where we want them. Doing that > > upgrade for an 8.1 release and again for 9.1 is the same work twice. > > Those changes might get merged to the wrong line, replayed, or dropped. > > We could try to keep lines working on both Spring Boot 4.1 (Grails 8.0.x > > and 9.0.x) and 4.2(Grails 8.1.x and 9.1.x), but that is not worth it for > > a line most people will leave quickly or skip entirely. > > > > 9.0 should be a short release. If it lands in late November or early > > December, 9.1 can follow soon after the Spring Boot 4.2 GA in Q1 2027. > > Users will likely move to latest Groovy, especially with the performance > > boost. > > > > This does not end 8.0.x. Patch releases on 8.0.x continue as usual. The > > only question is whether we spend a minor release moving Groovy 5 onto > > Spring Boot 4.2. > > > > Does this match what others expect for the next few months? > > > > Reasons that would change my mind: users who cannot move to Groovy 6, a > > compatibility promise we have already made, or a merge approach that is > > cheaper than it looks. > > > > Thanks, > > James Fredley > > VP, Apache Grails > > PMC Chair > > >
