[syslinux] Syslinux-5.00-pre8

[Matt Fleming]

On Tue, 2012-10-09 at 23:56 +0200, Ady wrote:
> FWIW,
> 
> Since there are known bugs and issues that are going to be addressed 
> only after 4.06, why the rush?

We are way, way behind on the release cycles. And in fact, there's
already enough new material for a 6.0 release. The "rush" comes from the
fact that I really want to get an Syslinux EFI prerelease (Syslinux 6.0)
out there for people to test and trying to manage 3 releases
simultaneously would be an absolute nightmare. Consumer hardware with
EFI is becoming increasingly common and Syslinux *needs* EFI support.

Ideally I'd like to stabilise 4.06 and move all new development to 5.00.
We'll see how easy that is.

> My guess is that potential issues might be reported after 4.06, by 
> users that have been patiently waiting since 4.05. If you release 
> more than one branch almost simultaneously (specially a round version 
> number), then the first reply to many emails and posts will probably 
> be:
>  "which version?"
>  "have you updated all the com32 modules too?"
> and things of that sort.

Yes, this is a valid point. However the above questions generally get
asked for every bug report anyway. I rather suspect that lots of users
will stick with the 4.06 even after 5.00 drops. Whereas developers and
people who want to try out the latest features are more likely to test
5.00.

Linux distributions, for example, are unlikely to pickup 5.00 this year,
but if a release is available then people in the Syslinux community are
more likely to test it. Any community testing that happens will be
invaluable.

> As a user, I wish to see some old bugs finally resolved, and 
> potential new bugs (introduced by the soon-to-be-released 4.06) 
> ironed out (no to mention some improvements). I fear releasing 5.00 
> so close to 4.06 could make it harder.
> 
> Just a thought.

This is a reasonable thought.

Bugs that are newly introduced in 4.06 *will* be ironed out. There is no
question of that. If people see regressions in their setups between 4.05
and 4.06 then they obviously need fixing. The 4.06 release will not be
abandoned as soon as it's out, if people are having issues with it they
will be resolved. Regressions are the highest of priorities.

However, that's not to say that we should try cramming lots of new
features in or fix every single bug ever reported before we release 4.06
- it's a judgement call.

-- 
Matt Fleming, Intel Open Source Technology Center