Re: 2.16 release candidate 3 imminent

[Graham Percival]

On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 05:02:32PM +0000, Carl Sorensen wrote:
> On 1/21/12 9:45 AM, "Graham Percival" <address@hidden> wrote:
> 
> >IMO, significant API changes should not happen right before a
> >release.  Version numbers are cheap; why not have 2.18 in March
> >2012?  Backporting is a huge hassle.
> 
> Earlier, we expressed a need to have stable mean *stable*, i.e. no syntax
> changes necessary for some period of time.  We wanted stable versions to
> have a significant lifetime so things like LilyPondTool and Frescobaldi
> didn't need to always keep changing.

I disagree.  I think that stable should mean *stable*, i.e. no
syntax changes necessary for *that series of major version
numbers*.  I reject the notion that we shouldn't release a new
stable version after a few months if there's no regressions in the
new version.  Other tools can advertise "works with lilypond
versions > 2.14.0 and < 2.17.23" if necessary.

Look, this reminds me of some essay I skimmed recently by an
economist who was worried that if the US paid off its debt in
full, the bond market would collapse and that would have negative
consequences for the world economy.  I see no reason to worry
about what might happen if we have too many stable releases unless
that actually becomes a possibility.

- Graham