Plans for the next release

[John Bailey]

Hi all,

For those of you who haven't noticed, I did some work on
im.pidgin.pidgin.next.minor today and propagated it back to im.pidgin.pidgin.
Obviously I'm intending 2.8.0 to be our next release.  Here's my plan for the cycle:

Merge window:  Open.  Merge any branches that do not break API/ABI compatibility
by April 1.  I may be convinced to extend this if needed.  I would really like
to see the number of unmerged branches start to decline.  Once the merge window
closes, I'd like to see at least another two solid weeks of development.

Feature/API freeze:  No new features at all after April 15.  New API after April
15 *only* if the API is needed to fix a bug the right way.

String freeze:  Start on April 16, last a minimum of 7 days but more likely 14
depending on the number of changed strings.  Release on either April 23 or April 30.

Bug fixing should naturally occur throughout this entire process.

I have intentionally extended this window beyond a normal cycle because:
  * I know our minor releases tend to get a bit large.  This allows the growth.
  * In my ideal world, 2.8.x will be our last 2.x minor release.  Let's get it
right.
  * I intend to push forward and raise our minimum GLib requirements to 2.16.0.
 I know this will break compatibility with some older Linux distributions, and
I'm willing to live with it.

If we have issues that necessitate a release prior to this schedule, we will
branch from t:v2.7.11 and release 2.7.12.

John

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 836 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://pidgin.im/pipermail/devel/attachments/20110313/6e1de1ce/attachment.sig>