Re: 8.3.0 release schedule (Was:Re: [BUGS] BUG #3852: Could not create complex aggregate)

On Mon, Jan 07, 2008 at 08:00:36PM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> Joshua D. Drake wrote:
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, 2008-01-07 at 17:12 -0500, Tom Lane wrote:
> > > > > if no serious bugs come up this week, core is thinking of wrapping
> > > > > 8.3.0 at the end of the week,
> > > >
> > > > Please give the packagers and other people one more week break
> > > > between two releases. We all had a busy weekend.
> > >
> > > We have thousands of people waiting for the 8.3 release. It seems odd
> > > to hold up 8.3 because the packagers are too busy. Perhaps we need
> > > more packagers or release the source and have the binary packages
> > > ready later.
> >
> > Perhaps we need to allow the release candidate to percolate and be
> > tested a bit before we rush to release. If I recall, it is release when
> > it is done not release because lots of people are waiting for it.
>
> Right, but you are mixing source code not ready with packagers not
> ready. They are two different things.
>
> I am not saying we are ready to release but if we determine the source
> code is ready I would like to avoid more delay because the packagers
> aren't ready.

(Yes, I read Toms message saying we are not ready, but these points apply
anyway)

I think you greatly underestimate how important the binary distributions
are. If they are not available at release time, we will get a *lot* of
questions about that. I know it's certainly true for win32 packaging, and
I beleive it is for the others as well.

More importantly, we haven't even announced RC1 yet. Which means that we're
now talking maybe 4 days of RC before we wrap release, which seems way too
little.

And in fact, just 4 days of warnings for the packagers for something as
big as this isn't enough *even if we hadn't just released the back
branches*. And we normally give them more warning.

Also note that the tentative release timeline says that the presskit should
be verified 6 days before release, something which hasn't even been
started. Translations of presskits shuold be finished 10 days before.
Embargoed pressreleases should go out 7 days before. etc.

Buttom line, I think Devrim has a very valid complaint. For more reasons
than he actually stated :-) That said, 2 or 3 weeks from now seems very
doable. But let's pick an actual date around taht and inform the packagers
and press contacts about it so they can prepare.

//Magnus