Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Hagay Lupesko]

Thanks Kellen, Pedro and Sheng for the feedback.

Kellen -
- Thanks for proposing 1.5 features. Kindly note them on the issue Sheng
created: https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/14619
- For your 2.0 proposals - can you please update them in the issue Sheng
created: https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/9686
Pedro -
- Thank you for volunteering for 2.0 release!
- Thanks for referencing the Issue that tracks 2.0 API updates, looks like
Sheng updated it to track the broader 2.0 features.
Sheng -
- Agreed that each release should be managed separately, my intention was
to kick start thinking for MXNet short term and long term roadmap - we can
fork at this point.
- Thanks for creating the issues for 1.5 and 2.0 - the community can start
surfacing proposals there.
- Agreed that 1.4.1 should include fixes, not features. I'll start a
separate thread on that.

As discussed - we will have separate threads for each of the releases, and
I will start with 1.4.1

Cheers,
Hagay


On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 6:39 PM Sheng Zha  wrote:

> Hi Hagay,
>
> Thanks for taking the initiative. The proposed scope in this thread is in
> my opinion too large to fit in a single thread, so I'd suggest that we
> start separate threads for each individual release item. To elaborate on
> the reasons based on each individual item:
> - For 1.4.1 which is in the wiki page draft, I'd suggest refraining from
> adding new features there since patch release should be about bug fixes.
> - For 1.5, there are efforts such as AMP and general improvement for fp16
> support in operators, quantization efforts, etc., that should be included.
> I may have a bit more context on this so I'm happy to help initiate the
> discussion.
> - For 2.0, I think it would be more of a roadmap discussion at this stage.
>
> I hope this makes sense. Would you mind starting a thread focusing on 1.4.1
> patch release?
>
> -sz
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko  wrote:
>
> > Dear MXNet community,
> >
> > I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> > MXNet releases.
> > I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> > parallel:
> > (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf
> regressions
> > and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> > ]. I went ahead
> and
> > created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> > <
> >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> > >
> > ].
> > (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> > release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> > improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> > for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> > users.
> > (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements
> to
> > MXNet.
> >
> > Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan
> to
> > start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target
> starting
> > once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> > will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
> >
> > I was thinking to get started through:
> > (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> > propose scope and features.
> > (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere,
> where
> > we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> > (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> > supports.
> >
> > Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and
> please
> > reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> > releases!
> >
> > MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> > better!
> > Hagay
> >
> > [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> > [1]
> >
> >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
>

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Sheng Zha]

Hi Hagay,

Thanks for taking the initiative. The proposed scope in this thread is in
my opinion too large to fit in a single thread, so I'd suggest that we
start separate threads for each individual release item. To elaborate on
the reasons based on each individual item:
- For 1.4.1 which is in the wiki page draft, I'd suggest refraining from
adding new features there since patch release should be about bug fixes.
- For 1.5, there are efforts such as AMP and general improvement for fp16
support in operators, quantization efforts, etc., that should be included.
I may have a bit more context on this so I'm happy to help initiate the
discussion.
- For 2.0, I think it would be more of a roadmap discussion at this stage.

I hope this makes sense. Would you mind starting a thread focusing on 1.4.1
patch release?

-sz


On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko  wrote:

> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> ]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> <
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
>

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Pedro Larroy]

Great initiative.

I would like to add the issue that tracks APIs that we would like to
break for 2.0 so we can take the chance to streamline and improve
customer facing code:

https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/9686

I would be happy to volunteer for 2.0 release with assistance from a comitter.

Pedro.

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko  wrote:
>
> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> ]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> 
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[kellen sunderland]

Release breakdown makes sense to me Hagay.  Thanks for initiating a
discussion.

Some features that I'm personally looking forward to that I hope can make
it into 1.5 (schedule permitting):
*  TensorRT being integrated with the subgraph API
*  VNNI MKLDNN support
*  AMP training in MXNet

I like the idea of having a call to align on features for the 1.5 release.
For those unable to dial in we have a rapporteur who can send notes around
after the meeting.

For the 2.0 release I wonder if we could start a thread that would have a
list of big changes/features people would like to see.  I know there's been
a few changes I've made that required sub-optimal implementations to avoid
a breaking change.  This could be a good opportunity to clean up prior
work.  It'd also be a good opportunity to prune our operators to those that
are well supported, and to make sure they're named and structured in an
understandable way for users and contributors.

-Kellen

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko  wrote:

> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> ]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> <
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
>