[Bf-committers] B-Con 3?

[Chris Want]

Hi,

This was discussed at the meeting, but not brought up on the
list. There have been some cool new features committed lately,
but we also have release candidates posted (that are already
out of date) and we are supposed to be at release level
'BCon-3'.

According to the documentation [1], here is the definition of
B-Con 3, and I would like to draw particular attention to
paragraph 2:

"""
B-Con 3: Release is scheduled
	
With B-Con level 3 a release date has been set. If possible it'll be targetted 
on one or two days, but often the release is scheduled for a particular week to 
account for possible delays, thus giving the developers a little room to work on 
improving their projects.

During this stage the release projects are refined based upon feedback through 
testing builds and from other developers. Also new features are generally not 
allowed into CVS. The CVS is in a 'feature freeze'. Commits are allowed in the 
target projects, as well for maintenance and bugfixing. This period doesn't have 
to last long, as it is to make sure release projects are stable enough.

The role of the platform managers and testing teams is getting increasingly 
important during this stage. Everything has to compile neatly on all supported 
platforms, so build systems need to be working as expected. Feedback from the 
users through the Testing Builds forum and on the bugtrackers are now also vital 
for the developers to keep on improving the code they are responsible for. 
Testers from the testing teams are supposed to make a start with the regression 
suite and conduct more heavy testing, constantly reporting back to the developers.

At this stage, the Splash Screen Contest will be held to choose the splash 
screen image for the forthcoming release. A panel of judges will be chosen and 
they will run the contest as they see fit. To standardise the appearance of the 
splash screens, a template will be provided with the Blender Foundation logo and 
correct version number for the release.

The contest should be finished by B-Con 4 so the chosen splash screen
can be incorporated into the new builds.

"""

So, my question would be: should the documentation be updated to be more
lenient towards new features during B-Con 3, should we revise our release
level to B-Con 2, or should CVS really be in 'feature freeze'? Either of
these outcomes would be fine be me, as long as documentation and reality
are more closely in sync.

As discussed at the meeting, I would also recommend that when we
change B-Con levels, that this mailing list is notified in a message
that includes a repost of the description of the B-Con level.

Chris
(a.k.a. "Ebenezer Scrooge", "Fun Killer", "CVS meanie", "CVS weenie")

[1] http://www.blender3d.org/cms/The_Release_Cycle.361.0.html