Re: [xwiki-devs] [VOTE] Change the way we do releases to include staging.

Hi, I'd like to add staging to our official release process. For milestone releases, I propose the staging cycle be for "0 time" (this may be revisited later). For RC or finals, we place the release in staging and immediately call a VOTE to publish the release, this gives our testing team (everybody!) 72 hours to raise a potential issue. Why: #1. After some chat on IRC I decided that it is advantageous to move toward a faster release cycle and begin moving away from milestone releases in favor of staging. This will set the stage for the release method we will need.

#2. Staging is easy, I've modified the release script to include staging and with the script, it is a simple matter of about 5 clicks on nexus to "login", "close repository", "release repository". #3. Staging is safe, the RM need not worry about fat fingers breaking the release, all it costs is time. #4. The release process should be as close to the same as possible for milestone and RC/final releases. This simplifies scripting of the process, decreases the amount the RM must remember and makes every milestone release a rehearsal. #5. Everybody else is doing it (is that even a reason?!) Mandatory? I would rather impress the RM with how easy and helpful staging can be than bind him with rules. If I had followed the existing process to the letter, I would not have had any experience with staging to begin with. In the interest of continuous improvement I would like to make this a strong recommendation, not a strict rule. Here's my +1