0.4.7.1 bugfix release

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Vezzra
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0.4.7.1 bugfix release

#1 Post by Vezzra »

A PR has been merged (#1603) where the question has been raised if it should be included in a bugfix release for 0.4.7. Which prompted me to open this thread to discuss if we want to do this, and if yes, how to proceed.

The bug fixed by PR#1603 certainly isn't game breaking, but nevertheless one of those serious enough to probably warrant a bugfix release. I'd suggest the following procedure:
  • Create a milestone "0.4.7.1 bugfix release" and assign that milestone to all PRs that should be included into the bugfix release.
  • Create a project for the bugfix release to manage the proposal and acceptance of PRs for inclusion into the bugfix release, that project would also be used to collect all bugfix commits which should be included but that are not part of a PR.
  • If someone thinks a PR or bugfix commit should be included into the bugfix release, add a corresponding entry into the "proposed" columns of the bugfix release project (which means only committers can propose bugfixes for inclusion) and also post a request in a thread dedicated to the discussion of these proposals. The proposal should then be discussed and approved or rejected.
  • The project entries of approved/rejected PRs/bugfix commit are moved to the "approved"/"rejected" columns, PRs are also set to the "0.4.7.1 bugfix release" milestone and tagged as "cherry pick for release".
  • Once we think we've enough/sufficiently critical bugfixes approved for a bugfix release, start the procedure for 0.4.7.1.
Aside from PR#1603, have there been other PRs/bugfix commits for bugs that have turned up in 0.4.7 which should be included in a bugfix release? Can anyone think of anything?

Opinions? Comments?

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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#2 Post by Vezzra »

Another bug I'd consider far more serious is issue#1574 and it's fix in PR#1599. IMO this alone warrants a bugfix release...

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Geoff the Medio
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#3 Post by Geoff the Medio »

Given the amount of time and effort it requires to do a release, I don't think either of those issues warrant doing one. Neither break the game (and as discussed, I consider the current production splitting mechanism to be as much of a bug as what occurs in the release version). If you want to, though, your call...

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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#4 Post by MatGB »

I am assuming this will be substantially easier and less workload than a standard release, ie they're cherry picked, we check it works as standard and then release it without the RCs as it's a bugfix for an otherwise stable release? If so, go for it, but if we're going to go through all the RCs and bughunt doing so then I'd agree with Geoff, not just for these two.
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Dilvish
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#5 Post by Dilvish »

The implementation in 0.4.7 has a number of clear flaws that I don't think anyone has argued against being considered flaws: (a) it implemented a significant design change without any discussion and without even being reflected in the commit message (they just referred to grooming and a dump message) as if it sort of slipped in by accident, (b) it imposes a penalty that is often significantly more severe than is even needed to achieve the design goal cited in its support, and (c) it imposes that new penalty silently, without warning to the folks who would expect things to keep working like they had.

The implementation in master, which I think for the purposes of this discussion is essentially the same as it had been for years without complaint from anyone, including yourself Geoff, is one that at least myself and Mat and Vezzra consider to be a reasonable balancing of multiple design considerations. You might now prefer a different design choice, but that hardly makes the one reflected in master "buggy", and I'm not aware of any argument that the actual implementation does not properly reflect the design choice made or that the design choice is not a reasonable balance of somewhat competing design goals.

I think a bugfix release for 0.4.7 would be a good thing, but I would like just a bit more time to sort out the AI error messages Mat reported here, and which I think have been reported before also. The part that Morlic fixed earlier in that thread is post-0.4.7 I am pretty sure, but I am concerned that at least one of the lingering errors may exist in the 0.4.7 code. I had been kind of busy working on getting prod queue projections working with the imperial stockpile, but now I'll try to focus on these AI errors, I'll do my best to get them sorted out by the coming weekend.
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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#6 Post by Vezzra »

Geoff the Medio wrote:Given the amount of time and effort it requires to do a release
Well, I hope the time and effort required for a bugfix release to be substantially lower than that for a full release. One of the most tedious things when doing a release is sorting out what should go into the release and what not, keeping track and waiting for everyone to get their favorite changes in, then getting the release branch to the point where we can actually start producing RCs. This alone I expect to be much easier with a bugfix release, after all it's just determining a couple of bugfixes which need to get cherry picked to the release branch.

I also expect the RC, testing, bugfixing, declaring release cycle to be much smoother. Unless something has gone very wrong during the cherry picking of the bugfixes, there shouldn't be several RC cycles.

Of course, we've never done a bugfix release before, so I can be very wrong with those assumptions. But IMO the issues in question are quite serious, so I'm leaning toward giving the bugfix release thing a try this time...

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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#7 Post by Vezzra »

MatGB wrote:I am assuming this will be substantially easier and less workload than a standard release, ie they're cherry picked, we check it works as standard and then release it without the RCs as it's a bugfix for an otherwise stable release?
More or less, except the without RC thing. As I said in my post above, I expect to have one RC, which needs to be tested of course (that covers the "we check it works as standard" part you mentioned), IMO one week should be sufficient. If nothing serious turns up, declare release.

Contrary to normal releases, I would continue to provide test builds based on current master, not based on the release branch until the first (and hopefully only) RC. Only then I would suspend the weekly test builds in favor of testing the RC(s), until 0.4.7.1 is out.

If it's is really that simple remains to be seen... ;)

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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#8 Post by Vezzra »

Dilvish wrote:I would like just a bit more time...
Sure thing, no problem. Report back when you've figured out which issues are already present in 0.4.7 and what fixes need to be cherry picked.

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Dilvish
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#9 Post by Dilvish »

I've been unable to replicate that AI error I asked for some time to work on, and no one responded to my inquiry/request for more info if they have seen it still recurring, so I think we should expect got fixed with other changes, I'll try to figure out just when.

I went ahead and made a 0.4.7.1 bugfix release milestone, of course feel free to edit that if you want any of it worded differently; I'll get to work on reviewing things for inclusion.
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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#10 Post by Vezzra »

Ok, I decided to go ahead and try the bugfix release thing. As proposed in the OP, I've created a project on github to manage the proposal, acceptance and rejections of PRs and bugfix commits for inclusion into 0.4.7.1, and a thread to discuss those proposals (where I also outlined the procedure for proposing, discussing and accepting/rejecting PRs/bugfix commits in the OP).

As there have been no objections to the procedure I proposed in the OP, I'm going to stick with that. Please, everyone, check the bugfixes that went into master after the creation of the 0.4.7 release branch (and that haven't already been cherry-picked for the 0.4.7 release) and propose those you think should go into the bugfix release. I think two weeks should be more than sufficient to determine the PRs/bugfix commits that should get included, I want to get out the first RC builds for 0.4.7.1 by the end of the month at the very latest!

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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release?

#11 Post by Vezzra »

Dilvish wrote:I went ahead and made a 0.4.7.1 bugfix release milestone, of course feel free to edit that if you want any of it worded differently
Thanks, the wording is fine (just fixed a typo).
I'll get to work on reviewing things for inclusion.
Much appreciated! :D

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Vezzra
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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release

#12 Post by Vezzra »

I think the bugfixes we've collected so far are more than enough to proceed with the bugfix release. As I'll be on the road next week, and don't want to loose too much time (we want to get 0.4.8 out by the end of the year if possible, and getting too close to that will make a bugfix release kind of pointless), I decided to go ahead with it.

I've created the checklist issue for the 0.4.7.1 release, see there for all the details regarding procedure, schedule and progress. The release branch has already been recreated, RC1 is scheduled for coming Thursday, August 24th. Then I'll be away and should be back on September 3rd at the latest, so I've scheduled declaring the release for that day. This should be more than enough time for testing a bugfix release. Regarding that (testing the bugfix release): I know, going back to 0.4.7 with a couple of bugfixes applied probably sounds tedious/annoying for those who are used to play around with recent test builds, but it has to be done. So please, all you playtesters out there, sacrifice a few days of your FO time for the cause and give the 0.4.7.1 release candidates some attention (once they are out). :wink:

If anyone has any objections against the proposed procedure and schedule, please speak up asap.

If further bugfixes are proposed for inclusion, the schedule most likely will be postponed.

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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release

#13 Post by Vezzra »

0.4.7.1 RC1 has been released. Please, everyone, as I already said above, give testing the release candidate some time, even if it is a bit tedious to go back to an "outdated" version. See the changelog for the things you should pay attention to.

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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release

#14 Post by Vezzra »

0.4.7.1 RC2 has been released.

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Re: 0.4.7.1 bugfix release

#15 Post by Vezzra »

I sincerely hope the lack of feedback for the 0.4.7.1 release candidates so far is not due to no one testing them. I''ll try to squeeze in a test game myself until Sunday, but it really would be better if at least a few other people did a few test games, just to make sure 0.4.7.1 doesn't have any serious issues.

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