Release definition & scheduling G.Cosmo - Release definition & scheduling October 9th, 2002 Release definition & scheduling Gabriele Cosmo (CERN/IT-API) Geant4 delta-review

G.Cosmo - Release definition & scheduling October 9th, 2002 Outline Addressing recommendation #4.1: “ We recommend a release schedule planned around a set of corrections and improvements. Both the schedule and the planned features should be readily accessible to all users and developers ” Release policy for scheduled releases defined in 1998 with dynamic evolution during the last four years of production Release policy reviewed in September 2001 to allow for a more flexible definition of minor and major stable releases based on development and fixes Features of future releases regularly published on Web October 9th, 2002 Geant4 delta-review - G.Cosmo, Release definition & scheduling Geant4 delta-review

Release policy (stable releases) Published on the Web: http://cern.ch/geant4/working_groups/testing/tag_release_policy.html Scheduled stable releases twice a year Defined major or minor according to scheduled development and available bug-fixes Interface changes only allowed in major releases Public patches distributed according to need and severity of bug-fixes Planned features for next release published on Web and updated at any new release (since release 4.1) October 9th, 2002 Geant4 delta-review - G.Cosmo, Release definition & scheduling

Release Schedule definition Based on prioritization of development User requirements from experiments Important fixes for outstanding problems Scheduled development approved in the TSB Requirements from generic users Code migrations or infrastructure issues Release schedule published once approved by the TSB October 9th, 2002 Geant4 delta-review - G.Cosmo, Release definition & scheduling

Geant4 delta-review - G.Cosmo, Release definition & scheduling Conclusions Release policy dynamically evolved since its definition in1998 Minor and major stable releases are defined on the basis of the development and planned features Features of future releases are now regularly published on Web Possible evolutions: Enhance release process to include distribution of pre-installed kits (CD-ROMs, RPMs, …) October 9th, 2002 Geant4 delta-review - G.Cosmo, Release definition & scheduling