[petsc-dev] I hate nagupgrade

[Karl Rupp]

Hi,

 > Here's a simple and stupid suggestion:
>
> 1. Make a roadmap/plan that specifies when new releases should be made.
>
> 2. Stick to it.
>
> 3. Just check the system clock to see whether a new release is
> (probably) available
>
> 4. Nag the user to upgrade.

Simple and stupid - but I like it :-)

>
> (I guess 1. and 2. are the hard part ;)

Since we have petsc-maint around in a stable fashion I don't think it is 
that hard to stick to it (2.). It's more a matter of ensuring 
everybody's commitment to a given release schedule. This can be fairly 
hard if you link certain features to releases, as some features may turn 
out to be much more time-consuming than anticipated. In the end it boils 
down to the question of which release model we want to pursue:
  - Release "when it's done" like Debian (or Duke Nukem Forever...)
  - A "release every X months" like e.g. Ubuntu
  - A rolling release model like Arch Linux
Either of them has it's pros and cons, and in the end it's most 
important that all developers are committed to the same model.

Best regards,
Karli