On 8/30/2014 4:57 PM, Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo wrote: > > > ----- Forwarded Message ----- > From: "Miguel Angel Ajo Pelayo" <[email protected]> > To: "Wayne Stambaugh" <[email protected]> > Cc: "KiCad Developers" <[email protected]> > Sent: Saturday, 30 August, 2014 10:39:24 PM > Subject: Re: [Kicad-developers] Project proposal > > Hi Wayne!, > > >> Since Javier sort of let the cat out of the bag, I thought now would be >> a good time as my first official announcement as project leader to talk >> about creating a stable release of KiCad. As you may have read in >> Javier's post that this stable release would be a light weight release >> in that there would not be bug fix back ports. The goal is to attempt >> to strike a balance between the needs of users and the resource >> limitations of the project. In order for this to work effectively, I >> feel we have to adopt a slightly different development model than we >> currently have. I am proposing that we move to a model more like the >> Linux kernel where there is a merge window for new features followed by >> a stabilization period. Once the merge window is closed, we can focus >> on the tasks required for a stable release. I am *not* suggesting we go >> to a time based release. I don't believe we are in the position to make >> that happen. The amount of time the merge window is open will depend on >> what new features are introduced and how disruptive they are. The >> amount of time between the close of the merge window and the next stable >> release will depend on how long it takes to complete all of the tasks >> required to ready a high quality stable release. The way I see it, the >> following tasks would need to be completed in order for a stable release. > > That's very similar to other projects I work for from my position at > Red Hat (openstack), we have a window to provide specification for new > features, > a window to merge new features, and a window to stabilize. > > At least for the subproject I work on (neutron) it's 3/4 (new features)- > 1/4(stabilization), in this case we have back ports to stable branches, > because we have resources for that, something that helps on that is > marking the backportable fixes with "Backport-Potential" in the commit > message. > > I can only say, that removing the time constraints, and the backports, > it already sounds like a very good enhancement to the project. > >> >> 1) Bug fixing >> >> At a minimum all bugs that cause segfaults or loss of data need to be >> fixed first. All new and existing features must perform as expected and >> documented. We need to flesh out all the new features such as GAL, P&S >> router, and Kiway code to make sure it is rock solid. >> >> 2) Usability >> >> The user interface should be as consistent as possible between the major >> frame windows as well as the dialog layouts. Any key board handling >> quirks should be addressed. I've seen a few bug reports about hot key >> behavior so it would be good to get these resolved if they haven't been >> fixed already. >> >> 3) Documentation >> >> All of the features recently added to KiCad must be added to the >> documentation. The existing documentation needs to be vetted by folks >> whose native language is English or have very strong English skills. >> Quite a bit of wording of the existing documentation can be confusing. >> There has been a suggestion of moving our documentation to a text base >> layout format to make it more version control and translation friendly. >> I'm all for that. One thing that I ask of whoever steps up to perform >> this task that whatever format is choosen, the tools to edit and build >> the documentation must be readily available on all the major platforms >> support by KiCad. By readily available, I mean there needs to be binary >> installers. I'm fine if Windows users have to install MSYS2/MinGW along >> with the required packages to edit an build the documentation. I don't >> think it's good idea to ask our documentation folks to have to build the >> tools from source. >> >> 4) Installers. >> >> High quality binary installers are a must for all of the supported >> platforms. I cannot stress enough how important this is. Asking users >> to build and install KiCad from source is insane. >> >> There are Linux distro packagers, corporate users, and potential >> sponsors who consider stable releases a must. Obviously, none of this >> can happen without your help. Please take a few days and carefully >> consider this proposal and how you can contribute to help make it a >> reality. I will be traveling the next two days so please hold off on >> the big barrage of comments and questions until early next week so I can >> make a feeble attempt to keep up with them :). I also want to extend my >> sincerest thanks to all who have contributed their time, talents, and >> money to help make KiCad what it is today. > > I'm not in the position to help on this at this moment, but I also believe > it's something very necessary if we want to remove the entry barriers for > users. > > I'm my opinion, the more automated the installer generation is, the better, > this way we could auto build, and auto upload even the development releases > to be accessible to anyone.
It would be nice if we could take advantage of CPack for this purpose. It's one of those things I'ld like to take a look at if I had the time. This would allow us to set up builders to create packages for all platforms. > >> >> Kind Regards, >> >> Wayne >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers >> Post to : [email protected] >> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers >> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp >> > > _______________________________________________ > Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers > Post to : [email protected] > Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers > More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp > _______________________________________________ Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers Post to : [email protected] Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~kicad-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
