[wp-hackers] Release cycles

[Podz]

Some info I was looking at:

 From release to final version:

1.2 May 22, 2004
1.2.2 December 15, 2004
(7 months including 1.2.1)

1.5 February 17, 2005
1.5.2 August 14, 2005
(6 months including 1.5.1.1, 1.5.1.2, 1.5.1.3)

2.0 December 31, 2005
??

Now I'm not picking on versions, or poking at 2.0 but looking at that I 
can't see why a release cycle cannot be got into now. The WP community 
is now huge and it's used so very widely that maybe predictability will 
be a good thing. The upgrades in the life of 1.5 were not well received 
and I can't see the wider 2.0 audience being any more understanding 
should bugfix releases be needed.

As I see it a release cycle removes all the 'when will it be released', 
allows for a clear roadmap, allows for a proper code-freeze, means 
developers of external tools (such as Ecto) also have more of an idea, 
means everyone knows where they are with respect to wishlist inclusions, 
means that the devs have not just a goal time but also they know that 
immediately after they can wander away from the keyboard for a few 
minutes, and it means that when you release a candidate people know to 
really hit it because of the release date. It also means that support 
know where they are too. Would it help the likes of Fantastico and the 
soon-to-be Yahoo upgrading ? No idea but it can't harm.

I don't think it should necessarily be held to a definite day, but 
certainly within a short time-frame would seem to make more sense that 
the system of "When it's ready" - and I'm not commenting on that because 
that is a diferent issue.

So I can't see anything but good to come from a release cycle. Or maybe 
I'm missing something ?

P.