+++ Clark, Rob [2012-04-05 21:10 -0500]:
just some random thoughts on our release model, etc.. I've been meaning to write up for a while but haven't had time
There has been some feedback, for example on #pandaboard, that the monthly release cycle is confusing and detrimental for folks looking for something working and stable, and not necessarily bleeding edge,
You make some good points.
The fundamental question really is 'are we a distro or not'? If linaro is not a distro then no-one should be expecting stable releases - we are a technology showcase, and developer quick-start mechanism, and the existing process seems reasonably appropriate for that, but if we are expecting people to actually base real work off our outputs, then he's right and we ought to change some things.
The original model was that we just sent things upstream and people who wanted a stable platform used whatever distro they wanted. But by putting out images and encouraging people to use them we seem to be increasingly viewed as a distro and so users will expect distro levels of integration testing and stability.
I think we should continue to resists 'distroness', concentrate on upstreaming and discourage the use of our releases for anything other than development, but it seems to me that things are headed in exactly the opposite direction at the moment.
There is a fundamental problem of timing - it takes several months longer, sometimes years, for people to get what we are doing via a distro, and that's too long for many of them, which is where the pressure comes from. We are all aware of that tension.
So are we a distro now or not?
Wookey