Decision: Mainstream and ESR releases will be merged from TB 24 onwards

[Mark Banner]

Following the previous discussions around removing the possibility for the interim releases, I have received no objections, and I have not seen any serious concerns on either of the mailing lists.

Therefore we are moving ahead with plans to only have one set of Thunderbird releases as we move forward.

The transition plan is pretty much the same with respect to upgrading enterprise users as it would have been without a change:

• Around about 17th September, we'll release:
• TB 24 to our existing mainstream users
  
• TB 17.0.9esr for the enterprise users
• ESR users will stay on the 17.0.x branch
  
• Around about 29th Octobler, we'll release:
• TB 24.0.1
• This will be made available for all mainstream users
  
• TB 17.0.10esr
• Again, ESR users will stay on this release
  
• 17.0.10esr will be the last ESR17 release
• Around 10th December, we'll:
• release TB 24.0.2
• Provide an update route for 17.0.10esr users to 24.0.2, and they will all be on the same update channel.

When it comes around to TB 31, there may be a decision to be made as to when we update users from 24.0.x -> 31, but I would expect us to provide the two-release overlap for ESR users in some form.

Mark.

[Ben Bucksch]

Hey Mark,

normally, enterprise users always lag behind a little bit. If you
advertize TB 24 to enterprise users only at 24.0.2, that is the point
when they will start looking at TB 24. Most of the time, they will
encounter problems, and wait with the upgrade, and then they have no
more support releases of TB 17 and are insecure.

Given that enterprise users generally wait until the last moment, I
propose we make that transition from 17 to 24 at the earliest possible
time, and leave 1-2 further TB 17 releases only for "emergency" cases.

All enterprise users: Please test TB 24 beta *now*, whether that works
for you or you have any problems.

Ben

Mark Banner wrote, On 06.09.2013 14:06:
> # Around about 29th Octobler, we'll release:
>
> * TB 24.0.1
> o This will be made available for all mainstream users
> * TB 17.0.10esr
> o Again, ESR users will stay on this release
> o 17.0.10esr will be the last ESR17 release
>
> # Around 10th December, we'll:
>
> * release TB 24.0.2
> * Provide an update route for 17.0.10esr users to 24.0.2, and they

> will all be on the same update channel.
>

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[Mark Banner]

Hi Ben,

On 06/09/2013 14:41, Ben Bucksch wrote:
> Given that enterprise users generally wait until the last moment, I
> propose we make that transition from 17 to 24 at the earliest possible
> time, and leave 1-2 further TB 17 releases only for "emergency" cases.

The agreed plan was that we would provide 2 further releases and only
update at the plan. I don't think it is fair to change that now as there
is not really enough warning for the change in plan for those who do
consume our updates directly.

Mark.

[Ben Bucksch]

Mark Banner wrote, On 09.09.2013 23:36:
> The agreed plan was that we would provide 2 further releases

That I understood. But I always thought that they are a safety margin.

Businesses need a safety margin, some time *after* the intended and
advertized switch point, for the reasons mentioned. *

Given the security holes and the direct threat they post, "some time"
above means "some supported releases".

I didn't propose to change the release plan. Just the *messaging* we
give them. They MUST NOT wait until 24.0.2 and only then consider the
switch. They need to work on the switch NOW. Our message to them must
make that clear, but if we say "24.0.2 is for business", they won't even
look at 24.0.0.

* Many businesses I spoke with are still on TB 3, some are still on TB2
even. Not that we can support that, but just showing the world they live in.