[mythtv] Re: What can packagers/distro developers do to help the stability of "released" version of MythTV?

David Engel gigem at comcast.net
Thu Feb 24 03:39:18 UTC 2005


On Wed, Feb 23, 2005 at 05:37:35PM -0800, Nav Jagpal wrote:
> I know that maintaining multiple branches can be a lot of work. But,
> maybe we can take philosophies from other OSS communities.
> 
> For example, Debian has three "branches" (Don't think that's the right
> word for it).. Stable/testing/unstable. That may be overkill for this
> project, but the idea is there.
> 
> Correct me if I am wrong, but if we applied a similiar Linux-type
> development process to MythTV..

Consider yourself corrected. :)

MythTV doesn't have the same goals as other projects.  Someone else,
possibly on the -users list, described it pretty well.  It's a hobby,
worked on by the developers as their time allows, for the developers.
If it happens to be useful to others, that's great, but satisfying
users is not the highest priority.

Personally, I mostly work on things that I want Myth to do for me.  I
also do things just for the fun of it because I either enjoy the
challenge or want to learn something new.  In the end, though, I
generally only do what my time and mood allow.

> 1. You just released .17
> 2.  Assign someone to be the maintainer of .17

Nobody is assigned anything.  We all work on things that interest us
on a strictly volunteer basis.

> 3.  Start development of .18. Any critical fixes are merged into .17
> right away (17.1 etc) (for the maintainer of .17 to take care of)
> 4.  New features do NOT go into .17

I have offered to be a clearing house for patches to the released
version.  That doesn't mean I'll be a maintainer, though.  I see it
more like being a discriminating patch monkey.

> 5.  Anyone who just wants bug fixes can upgrade to newest version of
> .17. Bleeding-edge can be the development of .18.
> 
> Would this be too much to handle? I would certainly like to get bug
> fixes when they are available if they won't break my existing stable
> system.

I don't think you're going to get this unless someone volunteers to do
it.  None of the current developers have any interest in actively
maintaining multiple branches.

David
-- 
David Engel
gigem at comcast.net


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