Hi,
niels@???:
> Release date
> ============
> We plan to release on 2017-06-17.
> […]
Yeah! I'm relieved this is now public info and we don't have to
discuss our plans privately within a tiny Tails release managers
cabal anymore.
So, what should we do about it? I'll make the call as the 3.0 release
manager if no consensus emerges, but I first need some input from
a few people (at least anonym, Ulrike, and sajolida) to make up my
mind, so please read on :)
I see two options:
A. Coordinate Tails 3.0 and Debian Stretch releases
We can prepare two releases at the same time: 2.12.1 and 3.0.
Both should be ready (including release notes, uploading ISO,
manual testing) on June 13. But on June 13 we release 2.12.1 only
(we have to release _something_ on that day anyway due to the
Firefox security updates), and we wait until June 17 to publish
Tails 3.0, at the same time as Debian Stretch.
B. Don't bother and proceed as our calendar says
I.e. simply release Tails 3.0 on June 13.
Pros and cons:
- Option A costs us one more "Emergency releases" i.e. 2.25 days
of work (release management + manual testing).
- Option A forces us to integrate Tor Browser 7.0 into Tails 2.x:
this work has been based on the Tails 3.x codebase so far. I don't
know if rebasing it onto the stable branch would be trivial, or
a lot of work. anonym, what's your feeling?
- Option B is less work, therefore it increases the chances that we
manage to make 3.0 build reproducibly, which gives us good
communication opportunities. So:
* Ulrike (who committed to handle such communication) and sajolida
(who'll likely be needed to review it), do you think you can
realistically take advantage of this opportunity?
* anonym (who is our lead developer on the reproducibility front):
if we go with option B, how confident are you that 3.0 can
build reproducibly? #12608, #12567 and #12566 should be good
starting points.
- Option A gives good opportunities for communication:
* On Tails' side: we can point out that we're releasing on the
exact same day as Debian (which is a stronger symbol than 4 days
earlier); I would love to see this happen as a way to re-affirm
our strong relationship with Debian, which has been very
important so far in terms of how we fit into the Debian
community and the broader FOSS world.
* On Debian's side: they can mention our release in
their communication. But TBH they can probably do it anyway
even if Tails based on Stretch is out earlier than June 17.
Other pros/cons or thoughts?
The decision algorithm I intend to use is:
- If the reproducible builds people tell me they can make 3.0
reproducible and communicate about it _only_ if we pick option B,
then I'll go this way.
- Otherwise, if the reproducible builds plans are less clear, then:
if it's not too hard to integrate Tor Browser 7.0 into Tails 2.x,
and anonym+I find a way to share the additional RM'ing work,
then I'll pick option A
else, I'll fallback to option B.
> The final weeks up to the release
> =================================
[...]
> In the last week prior to the freeze, testing will be completely
> frozen and only emergency bug fixes will be considered in this period.
> Please consider Friday the 2017-06-09 at 13:00 UTC the absolute last
> moment for changes to stretch.
So I plan to bump our APT snapshots serials on 2017-06-09: #12609.
Cheers,
--
intrigeri
