Fedora Development Cycle

David Nielsen and Peter Gordon have proposed development cycle changes for Fedora. At this present time there is a 9-month cycle between major releases, and this new strategy would involved a two-tiered plan. One of the releases would target aggressive users demanding the very latest packages in their distribution (those who often tap into Rawhide for the Fedora Project), and then the alternative users that provide stability and a bug-free environment rather than necessarily being the latest-and-greatest. David's proposed plan would be to release a "technology preview" every nine months, which would involve six months of pure coding while the later three months would be the time to addresses all serious issues. This technology preview would serve as an interim release for those users that would die without the latest packages. This tech preview for Fedora wouldn't be bug free but they would hope to address all critical problems. Coming another four months after this Fedora preview would be the full release with all of the bugs properly addressed. No word yet if Red Hat (Fedora's corporate sponsor) supports this or if any other Fedora leaders would embrace this new development strategy.

My personal thought on this matter from an end-user standpoint is that the status quo is certainly satisfactory with their cycle they have done since the Tettnang days. Those users seeking the bleeding-edge status, they can easily use one of the testing builds. It is also important to look at the MASSIVE improvements from Fedora Core 4 to Fedora Core 5. For those users wishing the latest-and-greatest they can simply tap into the Rawhide repository and get all sorts of nightly development builds. Stretching their major development cycle beyond a year (Nelisen's present statement would be 13 months) could get fierce opposition from some users who prefer the present cycle. As stated before, this is simply talk right now and there is no official word if they intend to enact these ideals.