Re: Ceph release cadence

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Hi Sage,

The one option I do not want for Ceph is the last one: support upgrade
across multiple LTS versions

I'd rather wait 3 months for a better release (both in terms of
functions and quality) than seeing the Ceph team exhausted, having to
maintain for years a lot more releases and code


Others thoughts:
- I do not think time-based releases is a must-have. As a user, I
prefere quality over short-time releases, especially for a critical
software as Ceph (storage and stuff, I do not want creepy code here):
this eliminates #2
- for the same reason, I do not care if there is a release every 12
months, or every 9 months : a couple of months without the new release
is not business-critical, having a buggy software / not well tested
features is
- odd releases still allow bugs squashing, I guess it gives real-world
feedbacks too. Some people do have a "not so important" cluster, that
may use the odd releases

So:
#2 and especially #5: nope
#1, #3 or #4: I prefer #1, the others are fine too (if odd releases is
somehow a burden, for instance)

Regards,



So, to me, #1 is fine

On 06/09/2017 18:35, Alex Gorbachev wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 6, 2017 at 11:23 AM Sage Weil <sweil@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Traditionally, we have done a major named "stable" release twice a year,
>> and every other such release has been an "LTS" release, with fixes
>> backported for 1-2 years.
>>
>> With kraken and luminous we missed our schedule by a lot: instead of
>> releasing in October and April we released in January and August.
>>
>> A few observations:
>>
>> - Not a lot of people seem to run the "odd" releases (e.g., infernalis,
>> kraken).  This limits the value of actually making them.  It also means
>> that those who *do* run them are running riskier code (fewer users -> more
>> bugs).
>>
>> - The more recent requirement that upgrading clusters must make a stop at
>> each LTS (e.g., hammer -> luminous not supported, must go hammer -> jewel
>> -> lumninous) has been hugely helpful on the development side by reducing
>> the amount of cross-version compatibility code to maintain and reducing
>> the number of upgrade combinations to test.
>>
>> - When we try to do a time-based "train" release cadence, there always
>> seems to be some "must-have" thing that delays the release a bit.  This
>> doesn't happen as much with the odd releases, but it definitely happens
>> with the LTS releases.  When the next LTS is a year away, it is hard to
>> suck it up and wait that long.
>>
>> A couple of options:
>>
>> * Keep even/odd pattern, and continue being flexible with release dates
>>
>>   + flexible
>>   - unpredictable
>>   - odd releases of dubious value
>>
>> * Keep even/odd pattern, but force a 'train' model with a more regular
>> cadence
>>
>>   + predictable schedule
>>   - some features will miss the target and be delayed a year
>>
>> * Drop the odd releases but change nothing else (i.e., 12-month release
>> cadence)
>>
>>   + eliminate the confusing odd releases with dubious value
>>
>> * Drop the odd releases, and aim for a ~9 month cadence. This splits the
>> difference between the current even/odd pattern we've been doing.
>>
>>   + eliminate the confusing odd releases with dubious value
>>   + waiting for the next release isn't quite as bad
>>   - required upgrades every 9 months instead of ever 12 months
>>
>> * Drop the odd releases, but relax the "must upgrade through every LTS" to
>> allow upgrades across 2 versions (e.g., luminous -> mimic or luminous ->
>> nautilus).  Shorten release cycle (~6-9 months).
>>
>>   + more flexibility for users
>>   + downstreams have greater choice in adopting an upstrema release
>>   - more LTS branches to maintain
>>   - more upgrade paths to consider
>>
>> Other options we should consider?  Other thoughts?
> 
> 
> As a mission critical system user, I am in favor of dropping odd releases
> and going to a 9 month cycle.  We never run the odd releases as too risky.
> A good deal if functionality comes in updates, and usually the Ceph team
> brings them in gently, with the more experimental features off by default.
> 
> I suspect the 9 month even cycle will also make it easier to perform more
> incremental upgrades, i.e. small jumps rather than big leaps.
> 
> 
> 
>>
>> Thanks!
>> sage
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>>
>>
>>
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