LinuxTag, Release Interviews

<p>

At LinuxTag, I conducted interviews on release management with developers
from various projects, including Gentoo and OpenOffice.org.  One question
regarding time-based releases relates to the most appropriate release
frequency.  Should you do a release every 6 months, every 12 months or
what?  So far, Gentoo has done four releases a year.  Unlike I initially
thought, these weren't mere snapshots but real (i.e. tested) releases.
They are currently moving away from four to two releases a year because
they say that preparing a release takes significant effort and doesn't
leave enough time for development when you try to make a release every
three months.  On the other hand, OpenOffice.org follows a (roughly) 18
month cycle.  This is partly because Sun wants to sell a boxed version
based on OpenOffice.org and customers wouldn't buy a new version if the
cycle frequency was much higher.  It also allows other commercial products
to appear, such as books; they would be constantly out of date if new
releases came out every few months.  Some community members would like to
see more frequent releases, however, and it will be interesting to see what
model will be employed in the future.

</p>

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