Question regarding 6.1.x repository branch

[Peter Kowski, modificado hace 11 años.]

I have a site that is up-to-date with GA2, but I am interested in continuously updating it to get rid of some of the newly discovered bugs etc. In the repository, there is of course the main trunk which I am hesitant in using as it is bleeding edge, non-tested, with new functionality etc. However, I have also seen various other branches such as the one called 6.1.x. Is it worth keeping up-to-date with this branch for site in production? i.e. is it one that is in continuos development with known stable releases?

[David H Nebinger, modificado hace 11 años.]

No. Liferay uses the repository as a 'work in progress' and not as a potential release candidates. The repository is never guaranteed to build or even function.

Use it at your own peril.

[Gaurav Jain, modificado hace 11 años.]

David H Nebinger:

No. Liferay uses the repository as a 'work in progress' and not as a potential release candidates. The repository is never guaranteed to build or even function.

Use it at your own peril.

Agree with David

[Hitoshi Ozawa, modificado hace 11 años.]

You may be interested in the following thread.

http://www.liferay.com/community/forums/-/message_boards/message/16174535

[Javier Para, modificado hace 11 años.]

But I understand this 'work-in-progress' is committed under trunk, and those branches (6.1.x in particular) were created with the purpose of 'fixing detected issues' to those releases without adding new features or functionality under those 'somehow frozen branches ready for production'.

Reading your posts this is likely to be wrong... so in that case, which is the object of maintaining that branch with new commits if new features and bug fixes are committed to the trunk??...is there no way other than waiting to the next GA3 if any, or 6.2 release, to see issues fixed?? which is the nature of the commits that apply to 6.1.x branch??

Thanks for your enlightenment...

[David H Nebinger, modificado hace 11 años.]

Waiting for GA3 is the only way.

Liferay uses their repository in their own way. Commits to a particular branch may be done to fix issues, but there is no way to guarantee that the fix is final, approved, or even working for that matter.

The GA release is the only point where a set of submitted patches are final, approved, and tested to work against all other changes.

Trust me, the only thing you can get from the repository is some general idea where things are headed. It really is only for core Liferay developers/committers, and is not really meant for the purposes you'd like to use it for.

[Peter Kowski, modificado hace 11 años.]

Thanks for all the replies up until now. Before asking, I did understand that the only real STABLE releases are the GA's, and under that logic, my best option is to wait until GA3, though that may be a long time. Also, thanks to Hitoshi Ozawa for the link to the thread on The Community Edition Patchers Community where the case is laid out quite clearly:

Aad Nales:

As we all know there are currently no new builds for the community edition in between releases.

I just wished that there was more progress on the front of the said nightly releases. The problem I have is that, I have encountered so many little bugs in GA2, including functionality that used to work in GA1 but now no longer does. All I really wanted to know is if there was a way to overcome some of these for the time being without having to wait for GA3.

I was hoping that this thread may generate some discussion about general "best practice" for what to do in Liferay regarding bug fixes. It's just that I am used to using other open source software that has weekly stable releses that never have any added functionality, but just are released in order to fix bugs. I thought that this was the fundamental difference behind "Trunks" and "Branches" in a repository. i.e. The general Trunk is supposed to have ongoing WIP ("bleeding edge") but every time a Branch is created, it's supposed to be something quite stable and generally useable.
I quote from the download page of another open source software that I use

1. Download version 2.3.1 This is the latest official update of Version 2.3.
2. Download version 2.3.1+ This package is built every week with new fixes produced by our stable development process. It contains a number of fixes made since the 2.3.1 release and is usually a better choice for production than the actual 2.3.1 package below.

This is why when I saw a BRANCH lableled 6.1.x my spirits lifted though from what I read in this thread, I seem to see indicatations that Liferay views the philosophy of branches and trunks quite differently.

[David H Nebinger, modificado hace 11 años.]

Well Liferay is a horse of a different color...

Here the best practice is to use Liferay 6.0.6 (last GA of the 6.0 line) for production. While 6.1 GAs are available, they are still not ready for prime time (as you've already seen yourself).

After we get a few more 6.1 GAs, most of the bugs should be squashed and no new functionality will be targeted for the 6.1 line, so it will stabilize.

After that point (and IMHO only after that point) is it safe to move to 6.1...

[Hitoshi Ozawa, modificado hace 11 años.]

Liferay project is operated by a company and not operated like Apache projects. Bug fixes are released only for the Enterprise editions. Thus, if you are looking for a stable branch, I suggest that you purchase subscription. This is actually not uncommon for commercial open source projects. Community versions are used during development and stable releases are sold as Enterprise version.