Re: Call for 7.5 feature completion

Tom Lane wrote:
> "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy(at)postgresql(dot)org> writes:
> > *If* June 1st comes along, and Win32 isn't ready, there is nothing wrong
> > with freezing the code *except* for a pending Win32 patch ...
>
> Yeah there is ...
>
> In the first place it's unfair to other developers to make schedule
> slips at the last moment, and especially to *plan* to do so. I would
> prefer we determine at least two weeks, preferably a month, in advance
> whether there is going to be a schedule change. I think it's entirely
> appropriate to decide now whether we are going to hold to June 1 feature
> freeze or slip it. That gives other people a chance to do useful work
> while we approach the deadline.
>
> In the second, any Win32 issues that remain unresolved as of June 1
> are likely to be major enough (in terms of code impact) that we can't
> realistically contemplate slipping in post-beta patches for them.
> The fallback position is going to have to be no (supported) Win32 port
> in 7.5, not "we'll fix this in beta".

Agreed. No last minute delay of the feature freeze, and no pushing
major code in during beta. It sounds good now, but it makes for a big
mess when it happens.

We should decide now or mid-May if June 1 will be the feature freeze
date.

Marc is concerned that folks will not work hard to meet a deadline and
will slack off if we push thing to July 1. However, looking at the open
features, I haven't seen any slacking on these projects. Simon said he
would submit PITR patches at the end of April, and he did. Alvaro
started at the beginning of April and he is on schedule. Win32 has
continued on a steady pace for six months now.

What we might need to do during this time is to remind folks to submit
patches for feedback regularly to keep the community involved in their
progress.

I think Marc's logic is that we are going to get X features into 7.5
whether we set a June 1 or July 1 feature cuttoff date. I don't think
that. I would say we might get X if we choose June 1 and 1.5X if we go
for July 1, based on the current state of these projects, and also based
on the fact we didn't advertize the June 1 clearly enough months ago.

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