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Betr: Re: [Dhis2-users] release cycle: from 4 to 3 releases per year

 

Yes! For the implementations I've been following at country levels, a 
slower release pace or at least the possibility to only upgrade once a 
year would be welcome. Not every implementation has the capacity to be 
agile, so there is a need for very stable releases. Even though upgrades 
usually have little impact on the user-side, each upgrade needs to be 
followed by a training - at least for administrators. Sometimes that's a 
big investment for little functionality.


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Van:    Bob Jolliffe <bobjolliffe@xxxxxxxxx>
Aan:    Lars Helge Øverland <lars@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc:     DHIS 2 Users list <dhis2-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, DHIS 2 
Developers list <dhis2-devs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Datum:  03/02/2017 12:56
Onderwerp:      Re: [Dhis2-users] [Dhis2-devs] release cycle: from 4 to 3 
releases per year
Verzonden door: "Dhis2-users" 
<dhis2-users-bounces+gijsbert.ooms=btcctb.org@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>



Lars, has there been any recent discussion over adopting an ubuntu-style 
approach of two types of release?

I think a lot of people running large national setups with 1000's of users 
would be happy to see a long-term-service release maybe once a year with 
at least guaranteed security related backports for maybe two years.  Then 
maybe two more bleeding edge releases in the year for those who really 
need the latest functionality and have the agility to upgrade frequently.

The numbers above can be different, but I think the idea of two types of 
release might have some merit.   I wonder what would be the main arguments 
for and against.  We want to continue to release-often-release-early to 
maintain momentum.  But also provide some stability.  These aims tend to 
work against each other :-)  Anyway I'd be interested to hear what people 
think.

On 3 February 2017 at 09:40, Lars Helge Øverland <lars@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all,

we would like to let you know that the release cycle for DHIS 2 will be be 
shifting from 4 to 3 yearly releases. The upcoming releases look like 
this:

2.27: June 1, 2017
2.28: October 1, 2017
2.29: February 1, 2018


A few observations led to this change:

- The machinery around DHIS 2 of documentation, academy materials, release 
notes, web pages and so on is getting larger and the overhead of updating 
it for each release is becoming significant.

- Implementing organizations seem to be lagging a few releases behind the 
latest on average in terms of testing and roll-out. This leads to a large 
demand for back-porting of fixes and even features, consuming a lot of 
developer time.


So by reducing the number of releases by one we hope to reduce the 
overhead and free more time for new development. We promise to remain 
agile and user-driven in spite of this change.


best regards,

Lars






-- 
Lars Helge Øverland
Lead developer, DHIS 2
University of Oslo
Skype: larshelgeoverland
lars@xxxxxxxxx
http://www.dhis2.org


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