[TYPO3-core] Proposal for the upcoming Roadmap and LTS

[Dominik Stankowski]

Hi everyone,

I like this discussion and it is an important one.

I agree with the 6 months release cycle - why not? It is good that 
features can be released quickly, this keeps the innovation in the product.

But I would prefer an LTS with TYPO3 6.1. In order for the LTS versions 
to make sense, they need to have some overlap. Maybe the 2y (bug fixes) 
+ 1y (security fixes) cycle Lukas has proposed earlier would work to 
reduce the workload on the maintainers?

I think LTS is a great marketing instrument - but not only! LTS has also 
helped to achieve a greater *adoption* of a specific version. Before 
TYPO3 4.5 a lot of old TYPO3 instances were around that have - finally - 
been upgraded to TYPO3 4.5 - thanks to LTS!

 From my observation, adoption of the versions 4.6 and 4.7 has not been 
that high and the adoption of version 6.0 will probably be similar. So 
in order to move everyone to the next level, an LTS (e.g. 6.1) is more 
than overdue - and everyone will benefit from it, developers and agencies.

I hope this helps the discussion.

Cheers,
Dominik

On 07/11/2012 13:23, Tolleiv Nietsch wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Lukas Rueegg [RTP] schrieb:
>>
>> So, for me, the question remains: Do we need all these new fancy
>> features (which are great, no doubt!) in short lifecycles? And who,
>> respective why? Or do we probably prefer a few features less per year in
>> new releases but having a stable and safe and maintainable version for
>> agencies (and other parties who do not want or do not have the resources
>> to update every year)?
>>
>
> This kind of depends on whether you find enough people among the
> community (especially among the Core-devs) who are willing to do more
> support and less features. From my experiences it's very very unlikely
> that people who work in their free-time will "just" stick to maintenance.
>
> I actually agree to Jigal that "LTS" seems to be a way to move "cost"
> away from the customer/agency into the community. And the community has
> to decide whether to support this or not.
>
> I personally prefer the way we have it right now, with the many releases
> - because that is what keeps active contributors happy. The longer I
> think about LTS the more I'd say that the marketing team should come up
> with a better way to communicate stability to the customers without that
> "strong" label.
>
> Cheers,
> Tolleiv
>
>