Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Started by Justin Cliftalmost 23 years ago13 messages
#1Justin Clift
justin@postgresql.org

Hi everyone,

Thinking about the numbering further.

Would it be cool to decide on the version numbering of our next release
like this:

+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0

+ If not, we call it 7.4

Win32 and PITR are great big features that will take us a long way to
the goal of Enterprise suitability. They're worth making some specific
marketing/branding efforts about and making a big fuss, that why I'd
like to see them in an 8.0 release.

Sound feasible?

:-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi

#2Paul Ramsey
pramsey@refractions.net
In reply to: Justin Clift (#1)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Justin Clift wrote:

Win32 and PITR are great big features that will take us a long way to
the goal of Enterprise suitability. They're worth making some specific
marketing/branding efforts about and making a big fuss, that why I'd
like to see them in an 8.0 release.

From a marketing point of view, wouldn't it be better to skip that
risky "point-O" release and go straight to version 8.1? :)

--
__
/
| Paul Ramsey
| Refractions Research
| Email: pramsey@refractions.net
| Phone: (250) 885-0632
\_

#3Justin Clift
justin@postgresql.org
In reply to: Paul Ramsey (#2)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Paul Ramsey wrote:

Justin Clift wrote:

Win32 and PITR are great big features that will take us a long way to
the goal of Enterprise suitability. They're worth making some
specific marketing/branding efforts about and making a big fuss, that
why I'd like to see them in an 8.0 release.

From a marketing point of view, wouldn't it be better to skip that
risky "point-O" release and go straight to version 8.1? :)

Err... lets not get into deceptive marketing. ;-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi

#4Tom Lane
tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us
In reply to: Justin Clift (#1)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.org> writes:

Would it be cool to decide on the version numbering of our next release 
like this:
+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0
+ If not, we call it 7.4

Works for me: release schedule is solid, what we call it gets decided
at the last minute ;-)

regards, tom lane

#5Sander Steffann
sander@steffann.nl
In reply to: Justin Clift (#1)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Hi,

Would it be cool to decide on the version numbering of our next release
like this:

+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0

+ If not, we call it 7.4

Wouldn't a new FE/BE protocol be a better reason to call it 8.0? Raising the
major version number together with introducing a new protocol which causes
incompatibilities between new clients and older servers seems like a logical
combination...

Just a thought... :)
Sander.

#6mlw
pgsql@mohawksoft.com
In reply to: Justin Clift (#1)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Justin Clift wrote:

Hi everyone,

Thinking about the numbering further.

Would it be cool to decide on the version numbering of our next
release like this:

+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0

+ If not, we call it 7.4

Win32 and PITR are great big features that will take us a long way to
the goal of Enterprise suitability. They're worth making some
specific marketing/branding efforts about and making a big fuss, that
why I'd like to see them in an 8.0 release.

Sound feasible?

Sounds reasonable, but from a "change" perspective, the FE/BE protocol,
Win32, and PITR, I would say that this is a "new" PostgreSQL, thus
should be 8.0. I thought when WAL was added that warrented a different
major version, but hey, that's me.

But, if the decision is to go for an 8.0, then it should be reasonable
to be a little bit more aggresive about adding features and perhaps a
few wish list items. What I mean is, if it is just a minor release, one
just expects minor improvements and bug fixes. If it is a major release,
then one expects an update of the "PostgreSQL vision."

So, if the decision is to go with an 8.0, what would you guys say to
having a roll call about stuff that is "possible" and "practical" and
really design "PostgreSQL 8.0" as something fundimentally "newer" than
7.x. "8.0" could get the project some hype. It has been 7x for so many
years.

#7Robert Treat
xzilla@users.sourceforge.net
In reply to: Tom Lane (#4)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

On Wed, 2003-03-12 at 01:26, Tom Lane wrote:

Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.org> writes:

Would it be cool to decide on the version numbering of our next release 
like this:
+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0
+ If not, we call it 7.4

Works for me: release schedule is solid, what we call it gets decided
at the last minute ;-)

Personally I think Justin is a little off base with his criteria, since
I see the FE/BE protocol changes as the real differentiator between an
8.0 and 7.4. Everyone is effected by a FE/BE protocol change, not nearly
so many are effected by either win32 or PITR. And think of this crazy
scenario: We release an 8.0 with PITR, then need either a 8.1 or a 9.0
with a FE/BE overhaul, then need a possible 10.0 because we've added
win32... yuk.

That said, I'll take Tom's position on this that we might as well worry
about whether it's going to be 7.4 or 8.0 once we hit feature freeze; by
then the whole discussion could be irrelevant.

Robert Treat

#8Justin Clift
justin@postgresql.org
In reply to: mlw (#6)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

mlw wrote:
<snip>

So, if the decision is to go with an 8.0, what would you guys say to
having a roll call about stuff that is "possible" and "practical" and
really design "PostgreSQL 8.0" as something fundimentally "newer" than
7.x. "8.0" could get the project some hype. It has been 7x for so many
years.

Sounds great. I just don't want it to take _ages_ to accomplish.

:)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi

#9Lamar Owen
lamar.owen@wgcr.org
In reply to: Robert Treat (#7)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

On Wednesday 12 March 2003 09:55, Robert Treat wrote:

Personally I think Justin is a little off base with his criteria, since
I see the FE/BE protocol changes as the real differentiator between an
8.0 and 7.4. Everyone is effected by a FE/BE protocol change, not nearly
so many are effected by either win32 or PITR. And think of this crazy
scenario: We release an 8.0 with PITR, then need either a 8.1 or a 9.0
with a FE/BE overhaul, then need a possible 10.0 because we've added
win32... yuk.

FWIW, the 6.4 protocol change didn't force a move from 6.3.2 to 7.0.
--
Lamar Owen
WGCR Internet Radio
1 Peter 4:11

#10Tom Lane
tgl@sss.pgh.pa.us
In reply to: Lamar Owen (#9)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Lamar Owen <lamar.owen@wgcr.org> writes:

FWIW, the 6.4 protocol change didn't force a move from 6.3.2 to 7.0.

True, but that was a much smaller change than what we're contemplating
here.  AFAIR, those changes did not affect the majority of applications
--- they only needed to relink with a newer client library, and voila
they spoke the new protocol perfectly well.  The planned changes for
error handling (error codes, etc) will be something that will affect
almost every app.  They won't *need* to change, maybe, but they'll
probably *want* to change.

But let's wait till feature freeze to have this discussion; we'll know
better by then exactly what we're talking about.

regards, tom lane

#11Justin Clift
justin@postgresql.org
In reply to: Tom Lane (#10)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Tom Lane wrote:

Lamar Owen <lamar.owen@wgcr.org> writes:

FWIW, the 6.4 protocol change didn't force a move from 6.3.2 to 7.0.

True, but that was a much smaller change than what we're contemplating
here.  AFAIR, those changes did not affect the majority of applications
--- they only needed to relink with a newer client library, and voila
they spoke the new protocol perfectly well.  The planned changes for
error handling (error codes, etc) will be something that will affect
almost every app.  They won't *need* to change, maybe, but they'll
probably *want* to change.

But let's wait till feature freeze to have this discussion; we'll know
better by then exactly what we're talking about.

Yep, that sounds like the best idea.

:-)

Regards and best wishes,

Justin Clift

regards, tom lane

--
"My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people: those
who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the
first group; there was less competition there."
- Indira Gandhi

#12Peter Eisentraut
peter_e@gmx.net
In reply to: Justin Clift (#1)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Justin Clift writes:

+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0

To me, those sound fairly unspectacular as reasons for 8.0.

--
Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net

#13Felipe Schnack
felipes@ritterdosreis.br
In reply to: Peter Eisentraut (#12)
Re: Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

I think the first thing we should do about that is to define what are the
reasons for a major version change. The way this discussion is being taken
will not take us anywhere... is just too much about personal opinions.
Anyway, for most users a win32 port is not a big deal (after all,
practically all of us are using pgsql in an unix-like system)... but a lot of
Windows users that doesn`t try pgsql because mysql is just so easy to install
on windows machines...
and they`re much better in marketing too. Well, they have a company behind them.

Felipe Schnack
Analista de Sistemas
felipes@ritterdosreis.br
Cel.: (51)91287530
Linux Counter #281893

Faculdade Ritter dos Reis
www.ritterdosreis.br
Fone/Fax.: (51)32303328

---------- Original Message -----------
From: Peter Eisentraut <peter_e@gmx.net>
To: Justin Clift <justin@postgresql.org>
Sent: Wed, 12 Mar 2003 16:43:31 +0100 (CET)
Subject: Re: [HACKERS] Numbering of the next release: 8.0 vs 7.4

Justin Clift writes:

+ If it looks like we'll have Win32 and/or PITR recovery in time for
the next release, we call it PostgreSQL 8.0

To me, those sound fairly unspectacular as reasons for 8.0.

--
Peter Eisentraut peter_e@gmx.net

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