Feature Freeze Date for Next Release

Can I ask when the Feature Freeze for next release will be?

Last time we discussed this the only date mentioned was end-March-2008,
which is less than 2 months away now.

We've long expressed the wish to move development onto a cycle that ends
in the Spring, so next alternative would appear to be end-March-2009,
which is 14 months away now.

Both of those dates seem extreme to me, so something along the lines of
Sept 30 seems like a compromise - so 8 months away. That means we give
up trying to make a Spring freeze, but at least we'd be consistently
Dec/Jan, roughly as we have done for last 4 releases. It also means we
are able to take advantage of GSoC projects, if appropriate.

I'm of course happy to go with any date Core wishes, though I would like
it decided now-ish so we can plan the developments we can make for the
next release. We're increasingly in a position where personal time needs
to be booked, projects accepted or rejected, funding sought, server time
booked. Almost every major contributor has a commercial interest and
planning that contribution is important. Non-commercial contributors
similarly need to plan their potential contributions around life, exams,
contract end dates. Some users also want to plan whether they will
upgrade to 8.3 now or wait, in the case of a very short 8.4, whereas if
it is a long way off, they will upgrade now.

We also spoke about interim syncpoints, possibly quarterly, as a way of
reducing the post-freeze interregnum.

Insha'Allah,

--
Simon Riggs
2ndQuadrant http://www.2ndQuadrant.com