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How often should you release software updates?


Moments ago Jeff Atwood said the following on twitter:

Look, I love rapid new software releases, but the frequency of WordPress releases is just ridiculous.

Which makes me think, how often should you release software updates?

  • Daily?
  • Weekly?
  • Monthly?
  • Yearly?

Whats the best release strategy?


Solution

  • I would say in WordPress' specific case, they conflate "security updates" and "functionality updates". This is bad.

    This would be like having to do an in-place reinstall of Windows every time a security bug was found, instead of simply downloading a small patch every week.

    WordPress needs to have a security patch mechanism that's simple, fast, and easy for the security updates. A process that is separate from the normal upgrade flow of new versions.