Hi devs,
I would like to propose to officially close the two oldest branches:
release4.0
release09.04
When the branches will be closed:
* we will no more backport fixes to them (no commits in general will be done)
* if a user will submit a patch for the branch in Jira we will resolve as
"won't fix": the patch will still be there for interested parties
* no new release will be created in the future from the two branches
* the OFBiz download page will explain that the branches are old and no more
supported
* (optional) we could "close" the Jira versions for them and resolve as "won't
fix" outstanding issues if only related to these branches
The result would be that, if the current vote for the release "Apache OFBiz
09.04.02" will pass then the 09.04.02 will be the last (and third) release of
this branch.
Of course we could still return on this decision if something new will
happen... but I doubt because the number of commits lately has been very low.
The main goal is to help the community to have a clearer roadmap for the
future and to help to focus on more defined targets: older branches are not
supported, but the community will always try to backport fixes to the last
two/three branches: the currently active branches are 11.04, 10.04 and the
upcoming 12.04.
Following the same rule ("no more than three active release branches at a
time") we could plan to "close" the 10.04 branch around (sometime before) April
2013 (when the new release branch 13.04 will be created).
This is a small and natural step in the direction of having some sort of
roadmap for the project.
This, together with the discussion going on in thread "Proposal about a time
based release plan" should be enough to define and create a nice and clean
release roadmap.
We could start an official vote thread if there is interest in this, or, less
formally, we could more simply use this thread to discuss pros and cons and
find an agreement.
What do you think?
Jacopo
