ftr, I didn't mean Friday the 27th, I mean Friday the 1st, tomorrow ;)
On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 7:31 AM, Rick Spencer <[email protected]>wrote: > = tl;dr = > Ubuntu has an amazing opportunity in the next 7-8 months to deliver a > Phone OS that will be widely adopted by users and industry while also > putting into place the foundation for a truly converged OS. > > To succeed at this we will need both velocity and agility. Therefore, I am > starting a discussion about dropping non-LTS releases and move to a rolling > release plus LTS releases right now. > > = Role of the LTS Releases = > Many users prefer their OS does not change very often. We have a great > system in place for these users. Every 2 years Ubuntu release an LTS and > users can ride that LTS for the whole support period. Since the LTS comes > out every 2 years, they can set a 2 year cadence of updates if they want to > stay "up to date" with LTS releases. I think this 2 year cadence works out > very well for these users. So, this proposal maintains those LTS releases > as anchors for those users. > > = Role of the Interim Releases = > But what about the 3 releases we do every six months in between (what I > call the "interim releases")? Who are they for? Why do we invest so much in > supporting multiple interim releases at a time? > > I think the value of the interim releases has run its course: > * Customers (people who pay Canonical and others to support Ubuntu) like > OEMs and Enterprises have all adopted an LTS to LTS cadence. > * Many community members recommend only LTS releases to new users because > of its longevity and stability, but the interim releases cause confusion > about what is the “right” version for someone to install. > * As Scott James Remnant pointed out some time ago, the six month cadence > causes features to be either rushed, or to have to wait for six months to > be released (along with other problems). ( > http://netsplit.com/2011/09/08/new-ubuntu-release-process/) > * Due to Daily Quality efforts, the development release is now usable > every day, so enthusiasts and community members don’t have to wait for a > stable release to get the latest software and can participate more fully in > the development of Ubuntu > * Supporting interim releases is a costly distraction from future > development, a cost in both time and attention. > > = Ubuntu NG = > In the meantime, with Ubuntu Touch, the Phone, the Tablet, and convergence > of these device experiences with the Desktop, we are in the process of > inventing what is essentially a next generation Ubuntu. There will be lots > of new code written and code integrated from new sources to accomplish > this. The 13.04 Desktop would not have any of this new code, and therefore > will be "old" before it is even released. > > Therefore, I think we should keep LTS releases, but starting now, stop > doing interim releases and start a rolling release. > > More clearly, I think we should: > * Stop making interim releases. > * Keep doing daily quality and keep improving our daily quality. > * Take a monthly snapshot of the development release, which we support > only until the next snapshot > > That means users could choose: > * The LTS release > * The rolling release updated daily or as frequently as desired > * The rolling release updated at least monthly > > = Benefits of Moving to a Rolling Release = > A rolling release instead of interim releases will benefit users, > community members, and developers. > > == For Users == > Users who prefer the LTS releases will be unaffected by this change, at > least directly. For users who prefer more up to date software, the rolling > release will truly provide the latest and greatest software that they are > looking for, but without the 6 month wait for a new release. Developers > won’t be under pressure to rush a feature in before the release deadline, > so users will be receiving more complete software when they do get updates. > > == For Community == > The community will benefit from the simplified model. They will be able to > recommend either the LTS or the rolling release, and the users of each will > be clear. People who need to provide support may find their lives > dramatically simplified, because on any one day, there will essentially be > 2 releases with clearly differentiated user bases instead of their user > base being distributed across a minimum of 3 supported releases. For > example, on any one day, an ISV typically would only have to worry about > the LTS releases and the current rolling release, instead of 11.10, 12.04, > 12.10 and the current development releases, Raring. > > == For Core/MOTU Developers == > For the people who are actually making Ubuntu (the people on this thread I > hope) there are some clear wins as well. > > 1. Only 2 releases to support, the LTS and the rolling releases. That > means fewer SRUs to worry about, and only for LTS releases. More time and > attention to focus on what we are building instead of what we had built. > 2. Features land when they are ready, not earlier or later. > 3. No one will get stuck supporting "old" software that is not part of an > LTS release. > > = Why Now? = > There are two answers for this. > 1. Because of Convergence > 2. Because we can > > == Convergence == > The vision before us is feasible, and we can do it if we are smart about > focusing our resources on the future. We can make a Free and Open Source > OS that uses the same code base to power phones, tablets, desktops, > workstations, servers, clouds, and services in clouds! We can ensure a > place for Free and Open Source software in the future where people are > running desktops off their phones, televisions off their tablets, and all > the other combinations that convergence will bring us. We *can* do this. > > But to do this, we need to continue quickly down the path that we have > started on, making Ubuntu the best client OS on any form factor. Winning > our place among the new industry leaders delivering devices to end users > will take copious focus and effort on our part. We can't afford to let our > focus and effort to get siphoned off into releasing and supporting software > that is not taking us closer to that future. > > == Because we Can == > Daily Quality means that developers can ensure their components are stable > and useful before they upload, and our processes protect us from most > mistakes these days. The result is that 13.04 has been as robust a release > over the last many weeks as 12.10 was when we delivered. We have achieved > rolling release quality in our development practices, so we can capitalize > on this capability now. > > = Next Steps = > Such a change needs to be discussed in the Ubuntu community. Therefore, I > asked my team to put together a strawman proposal for how such moving to a > monthly cadence with rolling release might work. I will be discussing a > rough outline of this proposal on Friday 27th Feb at 6pm UTC / 10am > Pacific / 1pm EST at http://www.ubuntuonair.com<http://www.ubuntuoneair.com>. > Then we can talk specifics next week at UDS. >
-- ubuntu-devel mailing list [email protected] Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-devel
