[geeklog-devel] The road ahead - post 1.5.0

[Michael Jervis]

> I think for Geeklog 1.5.1 we should concentrate on fixing all those
> rough edges that we left in while rushing to push out 1.5.0. The
> addition of new features should be kept to a minimum.
> In parallel, we should work on a strictly bugfixes-only release, Geeklog
> 1.5.0-1, and make sure that it can be installed with a minimum of
> hassle. I.e., no changes in the database, the themes, or the language
> files unless we absolutely have to.

I would like to propose an alternative, ever so slightly radical approach.

I think we should have a roadmap, and we should stick to set time releases.

I think we should aim to have Geeklog 1.5.1 out by the end of July, it
should have a specific set of items in it.

1) Bug fixes
2) Community contributed ready-to-go patches (CTL and any others).

We should have a beta release mid-July, final release 31st July. We
need to make steps in the rift between community submissions and core
team submissions.

We should have a plan for doing so, and the work in getting the
release ready should be shared. i.e. Dirk shouldn't be left holding
the baby.

Remaining summer effort from core team should involve getting the GSoC
ready for a release not too long after the end of pencil's down.
Instead of taking a year to get it integrated post pencils down Plus
bug fixing and tidying up stuff. Maybe the new theme? Replacing KSES?
Changing in baselines supported? etc. Housework.

PLUS planning for 1.6, with a road map and time scales and defined features.

It'll just make us more credible. If we have defined windows for
getting things done with cut offs etc, and keep the community
up-to-date it'll make it easier for the community to contribute also.

Personally, I'm quite happy to take a defined role resolving community
patches and fixing bugs and aiding community/core communication and
trying REALLY hard to keep my hands off trying to build the big cool
things I'm really interested in doing, if it enables us to move
forward better. I'm not running a business on geeklog (unlike others),
and so making those big changes is less important to me, and I'm more
likely to slip anything big due to time and life.

But I think we need to be more structured so anyone running a big site
or proper business based on Geeklog can keep doing so, and our
platform, community and team can grow.

Cheers,

Mike