Bukkit Release System Changes

Discussion in 'Bukkit News' started by EvilSeph, Dec 19, 2012.

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  1. Offline

    EvilSeph

    Since the release of Minecraft 1.4 back in October we have switched to a slightly altered release system where we focus more on Beta Builds over Recommended Builds. The purpose of this was to provide people with working, stable builds at a faster pace while we waited on new additions to the API to be completed. Unfortunately, basing our release system on a moving target like the completion state of the API was a big mistake. As a result of making these changes to our release system, we are nearing the release of Minecraft v1.4.6 and we don't have a single Recommended Build in sight. People are now rightfully confused and have inadvertently been lead to believe that we don't have any usable releases for 1.4, leaving them feeling like they are stuck on 1.3.2 when this is not the case.

    To alleviate this confusion, we've decided to make a slight change to our release system until we can completely change our naming conventions some time in the new year. Instead of Recommended and Beta - names that come with pre-established definitions that don't mesh well with how our release system works, in the near future we'll be switching to a new system of “Ore” and “Ingot” builds, which will be explained in a future announcement. For now, we'll be switching back to a system that involves releasing more frequent Recommended builds as well as Beta builds, instead of focusing primarily on Beta builds.

    Our old system worked as follows:
    For Minecraft updates:
    • Minecraft update released.
    • Internal testing until we're sure there are no obvious bugs.
    • Development builds until we're sure there are no obvious bugs now that we have more eyes.
    • Beta build that simply "compiles!" and doesn't contain any obvious bugs for experienced and advanced server admins to use.
    • Beta builds at milestones in bug fixing or api development until we're sure it is stable for casual server admins to use and all the API needed to support new Minecraft features is complete.
    • Recommended Build.
    For Normal Development:
    • Development builds until we're happy with the code and it has been tested.
    • Beta builds to give the code more exposure and promote more testing.
    • Recommended build when we're happy with it and the API is complete.

    Our slightly altered system, that is effective immediately, works as follows:
    For Minecraft Updates:
    • Minecraft Update released.
    • Internal testing until we're sure there are no obvious bugs.
    • Development builds until we're sure there are no obvious bugs, now that we have more eyes.
    • Beta build that simply "compiles!" and doesn't contain any obvious bugs) for experienced and advanced server admins to use.
    • Beta builds until we're sure it is stable for casual server admins to use.
    • Recommended Build so everyone is able to get their servers updated to a mostly stable and tested build while we switch to our Normal Development cycle detailed below.

    For Normal Development:
    • Development builds until we're happy with the code and it has been tested.
    • Beta builds to give the code more exposure and promote more testing.
    • Recommended build when we're happy with all the code we've been testing in the previous Development and Beta builds.

    Please feel free to leave a comment if you're not sure about anything in this announcement, as it is important that people understand how our release system works.
     
  2. Offline

    gabriel11798

    I'm still calling them beta and recommended builds. /r/firstworldanarchist
     
    chaseoes, Ne0nx3r0 and OPJewelz like this.
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    OPJewelz

    I would agree on that. I would say you should keep the names but it'll e fine ;)
     
  4. Offline

    FTWinston

    So at the moment, there are two different types of beta builds - some are "it compiles, hey" and others are well-tested? I hadn't appreciated that before.

    While I can understand concern being concerned about people having preconceptions about what terms like "beta" and "recommended" mean, I'd caution against moving to names such as "ore" and "ingot" that have fewer preconceptions ... I'd argue that using those would mean that everyone's going to be confused initially, rather than just some people. :)


    Personally, I do still feel this - slightly. Here's my rationale: this isn't meant to be a complaint, just an explanation:

    I'm holding back from releasing a plugin update because BUKKIT-3150 is making things rather unplayable on 1.4.5 R0.2. I can see that this has been fixed, and if there were another beta build that fixed it, I'd be happy to distribute my plugin. As it stands, however, I'd need to tell people to run their servers on a custom build of bukkit at the moment, which isn't really desirable.

    With that said, I certainly appreciate the work that you guys are doing, and I don't want to go placing additional demands on anyone.


    Edit: Just realised that your front page only shows recommended builds, so is only advertising 1.3.2. If you want to encourage people to use beta builds, try making them more visible!

    Edit #2: 1.4.5 R1 came out during this conversation, completely removing my concern. Hence the strikethrough.
     
  5. Offline

    feildmaster

    It shows beta builds too...!
     
  6. Offline

    FTWinston

    Hmm... not for me, it doesn't!
    http://imgur.com/QMu4n
     
  7. Offline

    feildmaster

    Ohh... that one.

    *Wonders if we should remove that*
     
  8. Offline

    kshade

    Is Bukkit really that unique? Aren't Alpha (incomplete and probably buggy, for testing by people who want to test), Beta (mostly complete, probably still buggy, for power users who don't care if it blows up), RC (should be safe to use but needs more testing, for everyone except the paranoid) and Release (stable, safe for everyone) enough terminology?
    The end users probably don't really care about how far you've gotten with the API I'd wager and wouldn't even notice if you pushed changes to it to the next release cycle.
     
  9. Offline

    deadlock989

    "There's a new ore build of bukkit"
    "Don't care, I am waiting for the next ingot release"
     
  10. Offline

    FTWinston

    "Bukkit added new ores???" :eek:
     
  11. Offline

    durand1w

    I think the reasoning behind this is that some hosting providers as well as a large number of plugin developers were not interested in coding against a Beta release that they felt may change/be replaced often (even though the last Beta was out for several weeks). As of late last week 12 of our 28 plugins had not released any update for 1.4x simply because it was called a Beta release/or abandoned the plugin. 8 weeks after the pre-release of the first 1.4.x update, most of our players had stopped playing or opted to play single player to experience the new content.

    Our hosting provided decided to support dev, beta and RB upgrades (unadvertised change in policy)
    However, we dumped or replaced 5 plugins and had to track down another half dozen on the forums to see if the 1.3.x version worked with 1.4.x. A number of those did work but the most common response was that 'there was no RB released' so they had not updated the version compatibility.

    Thank you, Bukkit Team for attempting to address the disconnect!
     
  12. Offline

    Relicum

    Thanks for all the great work you guys and girls do. Just think you are on a losing battle due to Mojang itself not being run professionally enough and release updates to fix updates which slows plugin developers up and lose interest. How the Bukkit team mange to do all they do without walking away I do not know. Once again thanks for all the hard work and time you put into the API
     
  13. Offline

    HappyPikachu

    Makes sense. "Ore" and "Ingot" will take some getting used to, but until then I hope there will be a way for server administrators to distinguish between a true Recommended Build and a bleeding-edge one.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Why change the names? I don't see the point... The new systems looks okay, more frequent RB's is nice for people who don't know that Beta builds are pretty stable.
     
  15. Offline

    Tanite

    I'm pretty sure we were using "Recommended Build" for "the first build that compiles after a patch" until recently.

    Which puts me at a loss for words... still.
     
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