DMD 1.032 and 2.016 releases

[Robert Fraser]

Steven Schveighoffer Wrote:

> "Robert Fraser" wrote
> > Steven Schveighoffer Wrote:
> >
> >> "Robert Fraser" wrote
> >> > Steven Schveighoffer wrote:
> >> >> No, Tango devs will be debugging it.  Hell, let them do the work with 
> >> >> a
> >> >> pre-release compiler.  I'll volunteer to do it.  If they determine it 
> >> >> is
> >> >> a DMD bug, they give you a minimal case, and then you go back and fix 
> >> >> it,
> >> >> or you determine that it can't be fixed for this release (with
> >> >> appropriate bugzilla entry logged).
> >> >
> >> > This is a bad idea. Why not just release it and let the whole community
> >> > test it? After all, there is a "stable" version of the 1.x branch, the
> >> > newer releases are all possibly breaking.
> >>
> >> Tango is 1.x only.  It is the new releases in the stable branch (e.g. 
> >> 1.032)
> >> that break Tango.  When a new release in a stable branch breaks 
> >> something,
> >> it's by definition, not stable :)
> >>
> >> For 2.x, I agree, because it's not a release anyways.  It's just a
> >> pre-release until 2.x is blessed.
> >>
> >> -Steve
> >
> > That. It can be said that everything released is a "pre-release" until one 
> > of
> > them is stable enough to make it to the download page. This way,
> > everyone who is active can continue testing their projects & reporting
> > regressions, not only a few people considered special.
> 
> OK, I didn't get what you were saying earlier.  I thought you were saying 
> that D 1.0 is the stable branch, not that there is a stable version of D1.0 
> on the download page.  Sorry for the misunderstanding.
> 
> But regardless of that, I think Tango is special because it is a critical 
> basis for many many projects.  Here is what ends up happening:
> 
> 1. Someone using tango finds a bug in DMD 1.x, files it
> 2. Walter releases code to fix the bug, but inadvertantly adds a bug that 
> makes it so tango cannot build
> 3. Walter fixes tango bug, and 1 month later, releases another version with 
> another bug that makes it so tango can't build
> ... rinse and repeat
> 10. Person who found original DMD bug still can't use DMD, because he is 
> relying on a good build of Tango, which requires the compiler that has the 
> bug in it.
> 
> Besides this annoyance, Tango can be looked at as a really good exercise for 
> DMD.  If Tango compiles, and Phobos compiles, then most likely DMD is stable 
> enough to be useful for everyone.  I can't see any down side to having Tango 
> devs test a pre-release version of DMD.  It should just be one of the screen 
> tests that helps make DMD a better product, and helps make D less 
> frustrating to those of us who rely on Tango.
> 
> -Steve 

Bill Baxter already commented on this. Walter just needs to quickly release
a version with only regression fixes (maybe only if those regressions are big
enough to be blockers without simple work-arounds).