Release Criteria

[George Staikos]

     As every release of KDE approaches, I always think to myself: "What 
criteria defines the code in CVS as 'ready for release'?"  To my knowledge, 
there really isn't much other than the common consensus that we generally 
work with.  I don't think this is a good idea anymore.  The project is very 
large, and we seen time and time again that we release code with large, 
obvious problems that should have been caught but weren't.  This isn't really 
an avoidable predicament, but perhaps we can try harder.  I came up with the 
idea of having a release checklist that must be filled in before we can 
release the code.  What do you think of this?  Is it usable?  Should any 
items be changed?  Will it really help?  (I think it will.)


Here it is, inlined so that you can easily respond:


                         (Cut along the broken line)
    ------------------------------------8<----------------------------------

This is meant to be a general criteria for release of KDE 3.1.  It covers only
major items.  It is not a substitute for other testing!  My proposal is that
for KDE 3.1 to ship, each item here must be confirmed by 3-5 people (where
possible).  This will help to avoid major problems in the release.


KDE 3.1.0 Release Criteria
  --------------------------

- All modules compile on the most common platforms we port to:
	- Linux x86
	- Linux PPC
	- FreeBSD
	- Solaris
	- Tru64

- Version numbers are set appropriately

- Library versioning is set appropriately

- Binary compatibility is preserved

- KDE 2.2.x -> KDE 3.1.x upgrade is possible and relatively bug free

- KDE 3.0.x -> KDE 3.1.x upgrade is possible and relatively bug free

- Konqueror works on various popular websites such as:
	- www.kde.org
	- webmail sites
	- search engines
	- news sites

- KMail basic functionality is present
	- Requires approval from the KMail team for release.

- No processes are left lying around on exit

- No broken signal/slot connections are present in application debug output

- No DCOP calls are incorrect and failing

- No background processes are crashing silently (kded, etc)

- Each application installed should be tested for basic functionality.
	- CVS module maintainer should approve that each app works at least
	  minimally.

- File permissions are correct

- Headers are being installed if needed, not installed if not needed


Note: KMail and Konqueror (especially with KHTML) are very important and this 
is why they have separate entries.  I think they must be the most commonly 
used apps of all (kicker is more a part of the desktop than an app in the 
eyes of the user).

I'm sure that there will be some documentation and i18n feedback too.  I don't 
know enough about those processes to insult the team members with an attempt 
at determining what makes their work "ready to ship".

-- 

George Staikos