+1 to your definition of "supported", it is funny I just had somewhat the
same discussion today.
Regarding lifecycle, I would like to suggest that we only support the
latest release, otherwise we stretch our resources pretty thin. We can of
course have a statement that we in general will have a look at critical
bugs, but they will only be solved in the latest release.
rgds
Jan I.
On 1 January 2013 17:59, Rob Weir <robweir@apache.org> wrote:
> When a commercial software vendor says a configuration is "supported"
> it means something, typically that to the extent the software license
> includes an entitlement to support, that the vendor will provide that
> service for that configuration. So saying something is "supported" is
> essentially an obligation.
>
> With a volunteer-run, open source project, "supported" cannot mean
> quite the same thing. We're not obligated, in any contractual sense,
> to provide anyone with anything. That's the nature of a volunteer
> effort.
>
> However, users and organizations considering OpenOffice will naturally
> think in terms of "support", even if they user that term loosely. We
> use that term as well, in our release notes, etc. But I think we
> ought to have a more precise definition of what we mean when we say
> something is "supported", in order to avoid any confusion. This
> question has come up recently, with regards to the status of Windows
> 8, where that OS had not been released at the time AOO 3.4.1 was
> released.
>
> So here's a strawman proposal for what "supported" means for us.
>
> 1) "Supported" is a statement we make about a specific version of AOO
> used with a specific platform, e.g., AOO 3.4.1 with Windows XP SP3 or
> AOO 3.4 with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.
>
> 2) "Supported" means we encourage use of AOO in that configuration.
> We have high confidence that the combination is stable, that it works
> well and is safe.
>
> 3) Our confidence in stating something is supported should have a
> solid basis in testing. Something is not "supported" by us guessing
> it should work. It is supported only after we have successfully
> completed testing of that release with that platform. We probably
> should define exactly what level of testing is required.
>
> 4) "Supported" also implies that the supported configuration is
> sufficiently available and there is sufficient expertise that we have
> confidence that users will have a high quality experience seeking
> support on the forums and user list.
>
> 5) "Supported" also implies that we stand behind that release and will
> take necessary steps to correct *critical* bugs, especially security
> flaws, via rapidly produced point releases where necessary.
>
> Note that these are all expectations that a user might have, though
> any given user might think that "supported" means only a subset of
> these.
>
> What we probably really need is more of a lifecycle statement,
> including when support for a configuration ends.
>
> -Rob
>
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