[tex-live] schedule for tl2004

[Hans Hagen]

Hi Karl,

>So it would seem we are about 2 months behind right now, since clearly
>we are not yet at feature freeze or have a stable source.  We're still
>in "dev releases" = primary development.
>
>So, the revised schedule in your message of cutting discs in early
>September, instead of early July (two months difference), is basically
>in sync with that plan, adjusted for current reality.
>
>If we have a stable platform in June to start serious testing with, I'll
>be ecstatic.  And I don't mean tweaking the paths in texmf.cnf :).  I
>mean the actual core source releases that we will distribute.
>
>I do not know if that is realistic, i.e., how much more work Olaf,
>Fabrice, Thomas, you (Martin), Hans, and everyone else is planning on.
>Any estimates, dear developers :)?

looking at the dates, i wonder if in the future we should not aim for a new 
version in march or november; it looks like the holidays are now in the 
middle of the important testing and production period. (Over here, 
may-august is becoming a period in which work is hard to plan)

concerning the amount of work, since it's an interplay of binaries changing 
as well as paths and so, i'm dependent of binaries; (i'd love to be able to 
download only binaries for that purpose); currently i'm working in the new 
tree with a mix of old/new binaries (unix/windows/djgpp), but i still need 
to patch texfont to the latest changes (enc/dvips|ps|generic, can you make 
a decision there? or maybe i should just decide for enc/pdftex to make 
things easier); then i can reorganize the zip; also, context is not 
sensitive for the changes in config/engine); so i think i can manage

(actually, i want the example framework to end up on tex live as well, but 
that's another story; has to do with user interfacing, using tex over the 
web, and such; in due time i'll discuss that with Thomas/Fabrice)

Hans