Babel 1.0 Release Criteria: A Working Document

In keeping with the Open Source tradition, we want our Babel 1.0 release to indicate a certain level of capability, maturity, and stability. From our first release (version 0.5.0) in July of 2001 to our current (18th) release (version 0.9.6) we have continued to add capabilities in response to customer feedback, our observations in the field, and a consistent vision for interoperability. The key to our maturity is without a doubt the ever-increasing demands of our growing user base... both in terms of sheer size and sophistication with the underlying technology. Stability is a special challenge for any research project. With our 1.0 release, we will branch and maintain a stable Babel 1.0 code line for at least a full year. This means no new features and no backward incompatible changes, only bug fixes. All continuing R&D will be performed on a separate development tree. Currently, Babel has a quarterly release cycle with no guarantee for backward compatibility from one release to the next (though we certainly try to make migration as painless as possible). Now is the time where we can see a good point for a Babel 1.0 release. But, seeing that point is different from being there.more » This list enumerates and explains the outstanding technical issues to be resolved to minimize volatility and help ensure stability for the 1.0 line. The first draft of this document was circulated internally in June 2003. A revised draft was then presented at the July 2003 CCA meeting. A third revision was made into the current working document form & circulated for general comment on the babel-users mailing list and Babel's homepage. The working document was intended to be an open record tracking progress in subsequent Babel releases. A major revision of the document (including adding new items and promoting/demoting items) was done in October 2004, well after the 0.9.6 release.« less