Re: Project scheduling issues (was Re: Per tuple overhead,

Tom Lane wrote:
> Bruce Momjian <pgman(at)candle(dot)pha(dot)pa(dot)us> writes:
> > Now, I don't want to apply a partially-implemented feature in the last
> > week of August, but I don't want to slow things down during August,
> > because the last time we did this we were all looking at each other
> > waiting for beta, and nothing was getting done. This is the paralyzing
> > effect I want to avoid.
>
> Well, my take on it is that the reason beta was delayed the last two
> go-rounds was that we allowed major work to be committed in an
> incomplete state, and then we were stuck waiting for those people to
> finish. (The fact that the people in question were core members didn't
> improve my opinion of the situation ;-)) I'd like to stop making that
> mistake.

I am going to recommend disabling features that people can't fix in a
timely manner during beta. Sounds harsh, but we can't have the whole
project waiting on one person to have a free weekend. If they can
generate a patch, we can re-enable the feature, but we need to get some
discipline for everyone's benefit. I don't think any of us wants to be
embarrassed by the beta duration again.

> > So, I we should:
> > Warn people in July that beta is September 1 and all features
> > have to be complete by then, or they get ripped out.
> > Reject non-complete patches during August, meaning accepted
> > patches in August have to be fully functional features; no
> > partial patches and I will work on the rest later.
>
> I thought that was more or less the same thing I was proposing...

This is the text I objected to:

Tom Lane wrote:
> And yes, I *would* be pretty upset with the idea of applying major
> patches in the last weeks of August, if they are changes that pop up
> out-of-the-blue at that time. If it's finishing up work that the
> community has already approved, that's a different scenario. But big,
> poorly-reviewed feature additions right before beta are exactly my idea
> of how to mess up that reputation for stability that Marc was touting...

It emphasizes August as primarily finish-up time. And there is that
"pre-approved" part I don't like. Feature has to be done by the end of
August, doesn't matter whether it is approved or not. If someone wants
to start and complete a feature during August, "go ahead" is my moto.

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