Adam schrieb:

> --- In firebird-support@yahoogroups.com, "danyschaer" <danyschaer@...>
> wrote:
>
>> ... sorry, I want to add a question:
>>
>>
>>> 2.0.5 is a sub-version of the earlier version, but some bugs have
>>>
>> been corrected since 2.0.4, thus it's a release candidate for the bug
>> fixed version.
>>
>> Why are developers fixing V 2.0.5 if there is a V 2.1.1 released and
>> stable?. I can't understand.
>>
>
> What can't you understand? Microsoft still releases updates for
> Windows XP when Vista is out. Linux contributors still patch the 2.4
> kernel even though 2.6 has been around for 5 years.
>
> Old versions of software are often maintained for a length of time.
>
> The Firebird project still officially supports three major versions;
> 1.5.x, 2.0.x and 2.1.x. The ".x" is called a point release. A point
> release is designed to not break anything (even sometimes not fixing
> documented incorrect behaviour), but instead to fix security flaws or
> other bugs of a serious nature. This is done so that even if you are
> not doing your job as a developer keeping your product compatible with
> the latest version, your customers do not need to miss out on the most
> serious patches. Note that back porting fixes is not always
> architecturally possible or viable.
>
> Which version should you use in production?
>
> * Not a snapshot, alpha, beta or RC (unless you have a VERY good
> reason). These are designed to test new features and fixes to
> Firebird. There is a higher chance of serious bugs yet to be
> identified in such releases.
>
> * The latest point release of any of the major versions (currently
> this means 1.5.5, 2.0.4 or 2.1.1)
> * You should be either currently able to or in the process of
> enhancing your application(s) so they can run on the 2.1 series.
> * You should be at least in the planning phase for 2.5 support (look
> at the change notes to see what might impact your product. Perform
> your testing against the 2.5 Alpha, and let the developers know if you
> can see they have broken anything or make necessary changes to your
> product to make it compatible.)
>
>
> Adam
>

I don't understand this, too.
Firebird has just a few developers.
Why not concentrate on 1 stable version (2.1.1) and 1 development
version (2.5)?
Why are three stable versions needed?
Your argruments are not convincing me.
A new developer should always begin with the current version.
This is 2.1.1. So he will only need fixes for this version.
All other developers have one version running at their customers which
is stable.
If they install a new version they can always switch back to the last
version they know that was stable.
A developer will not wait 8+ month (time between 2.0.4 and 2.0.5) if he
had problems.
He will need to immediately switch back to 2.0.3 (or whatever version he
was using before 2.0.4) if he run into problems with 2.0.4.

Carsten