Kubuntu LTS

[Krzysztof Lichota]

Luka Renko napisał(a):
> Agreed. On the other hand, we have to also understand that KDE 4.0 will be 
> only the first release in great series and will lack substantial components 
> (kdepim is most notable one), while most of kde4 extragear must-have 
> applications (amarok, digikam, koffice...) will also be several months behind 
> the kde 4.0 release. 

No to mention other third-party apps from kde-apps.org, lacking
documentation, incomplete translations, howtos, etc. It will take much
take to catch up.

> I personally think that LTS makes a lots of sense and know how important 
> stability is for some business deployments. They also show strong commitment 
> of the commercial entity (Canonical) to the project.
> It is therefore even more important that decisions about Kubuntu LTS are not 
> done on short-notice, without validating the concerns of the community.
> This statement somehow indicates that LTS decision is actually decision of 
> Canonical (which makes sense), while some other people have indicated that 
> this decision was taken by Technical Board (which I doubt, as I have not seen 
> any public discussion or official communication from TB which they normally 
> do). 
> I am Cc: this to TB in order to also get their view on this.
> 
> In any case, I feel that decision was:
> - taken too late 
>   (should be done before or on UDS)
> - not discused with community 
>   (UDS could be used for that, why we have Kubuntu Council/Members?)
> - not communicated well enough (unclear reasoning)

I couldn't agree more.

>> Since KDE 4 is a major change to the platform, it is not currently at
>> one of these natural rest points so would not be suitable for long
>> term support.  Instead, due to the very high interest, development
>> efforts will be directed towards KDE 4 and releasing Kubuntu 8.04 with
>> the option of using either KDE 3.5 or KDE 4.
> 
> I think we completely agree that KDE 4.0 will not be ready for LTS, even more 
> I think it is best suited for universe for the time being, as it allows much 
> more people (MOTUs) to actively contribute to it.

I think KDE 4 will not be suitable for LTS till 9.04 release. 8.04 is
the last chance to get LTS before switching to KDE 4.

So decision to not make 8.04 an LTS means no LTS for Kubuntu in very
long time. And the message to users of commercial deployments is clear -
do not use Kubuntu for commercial deployments, because you will not get
the same treatment as with Ubuntu. So Kubuntu now becomes not 2nd class
citizen as currently, but 3rd class citizen.

>> Users currently running Kubuntu 6.06 will be able to upgrade through
>> the usual path to Kubuntu 8.04, keeping to the KDE 3.5 release series,
>> and will receive the usual 18 months of support for that
>> release. Future Kubuntu releases are likely to be based on the KDE 4
>> series.
> 
> That is clear, but this non-LTS story complicates even more things for the 
> future. Open issues:
> - when will Kubuntu gets next LTS version (if at all)?
> - if there will be one, will it be before dapper support expires ?
>   (to allow LTS->LTS upgrade)
> - will dapper be only upgradeble to hardy or also to hardy+1 directly 
>   (LTS are claimed to be directly upgradeble only to +1 release or LTS+1 
> release)
> - how will upgrade work from KDE 3.5 to KDE 4.x version?
> 
> I would personally suggest to whoever did the decision, to reconsider it. My 
> concern is that it may send wrong message to the market and as decision was 
> not discussed with commuity it may have negative effect on it. 

Again, I couldn't agree more.

	Krzysztof Lichota


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