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I wonder what kind of release process this guy has as the dev version always lags behind stable - https://www.sublimetext.com/3dev https://www.sublimetext.com/3

by nikolay 11y ago

I wonder what kind of release process this guy has as the dev version always lags behind stable - https://www.sublimetext.com/3dev https://www.sublimetext.com/3dev

coldtea 11y ago
Who told you it lags? Version numbers? That's because stable version X+1 come after dev version X. This doesn't mean it lags, just that the dev version came out first, and only after it was checked for a while, it was deemed worthy to hit the stable (well, actually beta) channel. That's not different than any other project I know.
- nikolay 11y ago
  I don't look at the version number only, but at the changelog, too, but didn't pay much attention, until now. Most sane projects create a build and test it, and don't rely on testing source code because the build process itself can cause defects as well. What we've been testing as a dev build should have been promoted to stable, but, I realize now, he has the changelog embedded in the executable, and it's possibly merged across dev builds. He also has differences in the functionality between the dev and beta builds as you can't run the dev without a key.
  - SyneRyder 11y ago
    It sounds like his approach is similar to the Windows 10 Insider Builds model of Fast Ring & Slow Ring. Even if all the Sublime builds in Dev are stable, I don't want to be updating every 2 days to get some minor bugfix. When I launch Sublime, I mostly just want to get to straight to work, not be thrown out of the zone by an update. It took me a while to learn that lesson from my own customers. As a developer I'm excited to make sure customers always get new features ASAP, but customers would complain they were perfectly happy with what they'd bought & only wanted an update maybe once or twice a year. But everyone's different - that's why the option of a Dev/Beta channel & a Stable channel is good.
    - nikolay 11y ago
      No, the dev/beta channels are a good idea. I think nginx has a similar release process as their stable now is ahead of their mainline as well.
  - coldtea 11y ago
    >Most sane projects create a build and test it, and don't rely on testing source code because the build process itself can cause defects as well. Most indie-dev projects don't do testing, or TDD, or automated build tests at all. It's a guy or 2-3 guys with their XCodes/VSs. At best, they might have a few tests. It's different from big companies like FB/Google/etc, or from software like Adobe's, and much different than JS/Java land.
    - nikolay 11y ago
      And that's why I wonder why he doesn't push to us on the dev channel to test for a bit before pushing as stable. Yeah, it would be different packaging than the /3dev build, but does it matter? As long as he can get feedback and keep us on the last version, it works for me!

by nikolay 11y ago

I wonder what kind of release process this guy has as the dev version always lags behind stable - https://www.sublimetext.com/3dev https://www.sublimetext.com/3dev

coldtea 11y ago

Who told you it lags? Version numbers? That's because stable version X+1 come after dev version X. This doesn't mean it lags, just that the dev version came out first, and only after it was checked for a while, it was deemed worthy to hit the stable (well, actually beta) channel. That's not different than any other project I know.

nikolay 11y ago
I don't look at the version number only, but at the changelog, too, but didn't pay much attention, until now. Most sane projects create a build and test it, and don't rely on testing source code because the build process itself can cause defects as well. What we've been testing as a dev build should have been promoted to stable, but, I realize now, he has the changelog embedded in the executable, and it's possibly merged across dev builds. He also has differences in the functionality between the dev and beta builds as you can't run the dev without a key.
- SyneRyder 11y ago
  It sounds like his approach is similar to the Windows 10 Insider Builds model of Fast Ring & Slow Ring. Even if all the Sublime builds in Dev are stable, I don't want to be updating every 2 days to get some minor bugfix. When I launch Sublime, I mostly just want to get to straight to work, not be thrown out of the zone by an update. It took me a while to learn that lesson from my own customers. As a developer I'm excited to make sure customers always get new features ASAP, but customers would complain they were perfectly happy with what they'd bought & only wanted an update maybe once or twice a year. But everyone's different - that's why the option of a Dev/Beta channel & a Stable channel is good.
  - nikolay 11y ago
    No, the dev/beta channels are a good idea. I think nginx has a similar release process as their stable now is ahead of their mainline as well.
- coldtea 11y ago
  >Most sane projects create a build and test it, and don't rely on testing source code because the build process itself can cause defects as well. Most indie-dev projects don't do testing, or TDD, or automated build tests at all. It's a guy or 2-3 guys with their XCodes/VSs. At best, they might have a few tests. It's different from big companies like FB/Google/etc, or from software like Adobe's, and much different than JS/Java land.
  - nikolay 11y ago
    And that's why I wonder why he doesn't push to us on the dev channel to test for a bit before pushing as stable. Yeah, it would be different packaging than the /3dev build, but does it matter? As long as he can get feedback and keep us on the last version, it works for me!