Re: [CORE] Restore-reliability mode - Mailing list pgsql-hackers

On 06/06/15 21:07, Simon Riggs wrote:
> On 5 June 2015 at 17:20, Alvaro Herrera <alvherre@2ndquadrant.com 
> <mailto:alvherre@2ndquadrant.com>> wrote:
>
>     Simon Riggs wrote:
>     > On 5 June 2015 at 15:00, Robert Haas <robertmhaas@gmail.com
>     <mailto:robertmhaas@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     > > Stamping it a beta implies that we think it's something fairly
>     > > stable that we'd be pretty happy to release if things go well,
>     which
>     > > is a higher bar to clear.
>     >
>     > We don't have a clear definition of what Beta means. For me,
>     Beta has
>     > always meant "trial software, please test".
>
>     I think that definition *is* the problem, actually.  To me, "beta"
>     means
>     "trial software, please test, but final product will be very
>     similar to
>     what you see here".  What we need to convey at this point is what you
>     said, but I think a better word for that is "alpha". There may be more
>     mobility in there than in a beta, in users's perception, which is the
>     right impression we want to convey.
>
>     Another point is that historically, once we've released a beta, we're
>     pretty reluctant to bump catversion.  We're not ready for that at this
>     stage, which is one criteria that suggests to me that we're not ready
>     for beta.
>
>     So I think the right thing to do at this point is to get an alpha out,
>     shortly after releasing upcoming minors.
>
>
> OK, I can get behind that.
>
> My only additional point is that it is a good idea to release an Alpha 
> every time, not just this release.
>
> And if its called Alpha, lets release it immediately. We can allow 
> Alpha1, Alpha2 as needed, plus we allow catversion and file format 
> changes between Alpha versions.
>
> Proposed definitions
>
> Alpha: This is trial software please actively test and report bugs. 
> Your feedback is sought on usability and performance, which may result 
> in changes to the features included here. Not all known issues have 
> been resolved but work continues on resolving them. Multiple Alpha 
> versions may be released before we move to Beta. We reserve the right 
> to change internal API definitions, file formats and increment the 
> catalog version between Alpha versions and Beta, so we do not 
> guarantee and easy upgrade path from this version to later versions of 
> this release.
>
> Beta: This is trial software please actively test and report bugs and 
> performance issues. Multiple Beta versions may be released before we 
> move to Release Candidate. We will attempt to maintain APIs, file 
> formats and catversions.
>
> -- 
> Simon Riggs http://www.2ndQuadrant.com/ <http://www.2ndquadrant.com/>
> PostgreSQL Development, 24x7 Support, Remote DBA, Training & Services
As a 'user' I am very happy with the idea of having Alpha's, gives me a 
feeling that there will be less chance of problems being released in the 
final version.

Because not only does it give more chances to test, but might encourage 
more people to get involved in contributing, either ideas for minor 
tweaks or simple patches etc. (as being not quite finished, and an 
expectation that minor functional changes have a possibility of being 
accepted for the version, if there is sufficient merit).


Cheers,
Gavin