Release Schedule

Next Release

Note well: Changes must always be committed to trunk and be stable on trunk regression testing before being merged to branches/release.

• May, 2008: branches/release opens for all stable changes, including bug fixes, major library upgrades, and, with permission, new libraries. Breaking changes should be coordinated with libraries affected.
• June 19, 2008: branches/release closes for new libraries and major upgrades or breaking changes to existing libraries. Still open for bug fixes and minor changes to all libraries.
• July 3, 2008: branches/release closes for routine minor changes and fixes. Still open for serious problem fixes.
• July 10, 2008: branches/release closes for all library changes except when specific permission given by release manager(s).
• July 17, 2008 (sooner if possible): Beta 1 target date. Further betas and/or release candidates as feedback dictates.
• July 31, 2008: Release ship date.

Future Releases

Releases are scheduled for the last day of the first month of each quarter:

• January 31
• April 30
• July 31
• October 31

Release milestones

• One week after prior release ships: branches/release opens for all stable changes, including bug fixes, major library upgrades, and, with permission, new libraries. Breaking changes should be coordinated with libraries affected.
• Six weeks before release: branches/release closes for new libraries and major upgrades or breaking changes to existing libraries. Still open for bug fixes and minor changes to all libraries.
• Four weeks before release: branches/release closes for routine minor changes and fixes. Still open for serious problem fixes.
• Three weeks before release: branches/release closes for all library changes except when specific permission given by release manager(s).
• Two weeks before release (sooner if possible): Beta 1 target date. Further betas and/or release candidates as feedback dictates.

Schedule Rationale

The quarterly schedule is based on mailing list discussions and the results of a straw poll at the BoostCon '08 "Future of Boost" session:

How often do we want to have Boost releases?

4 weeks: 0 votes, 6 weeks: 0 votes, 8 weeks: 10 votes, 12 weeks: 25 votes, 16 weeks or longer: 6 votes

The last day of the month is chosen rather than the first day, because January 1st comes after a holiday period in which it is hard to get anything done.

The schedule for release milestones is based on practical issues like the length of time it takes regression tests to cycle, and is adjusted as experience dictates.