- Posts: 1
- Thank you received: 0
Welcome to the LimeSurvey Community Forum
Ask the community, share ideas, and connect with other LimeSurvey users!
Questions on release cycle and versions support
- gaudreaj
- Topic Author
- Offline
- New Member
Less
More
5 years 8 months ago #172774
by gaudreaj
Questions on release cycle and versions support was created by gaudreaj
Hi,
Our organization is considering deploying LimeSurvey and I had important questions that I was not able to find in the official documentation:
Thanks in advance!
Jean-Philippe
Our organization is considering deploying LimeSurvey and I had important questions that I was not able to find in the official documentation:
- What is the release cycle of versions? For example: Minor version (X.Y) every 6 months and bug fixes (X.Y.Z) every month
- What is the general support for released versions? For how long is a major/minor version supported (bug fixes and security fixes)?
- Is there some kind of security vulnerabilities announcements somewhere (Notification list, dedicated forums etc)?
Thanks in advance!
Jean-Philippe
The topic has been locked.
- holch
- Offline
- LimeSurvey Community Team
Less
More
- Posts: 11660
- Thank you received: 2742
5 years 8 months ago - 5 years 8 months ago #172777
by holch
Here is my personal view (I am not involved in development and have no deeper insights, just the experience of hanging out in this forum a lot) of the release cycles:
When it's ready, its ready. So there is no fixed cycle for minor versions and bug fixes are released very frequently, sometimes more than once a week, if necessary
When a new version comes out, the previous version is generally is not supported anymore. It is highly recommended to upgrade. However, in some cases the Limesurvey developer team has offered LTS support for some versions. This means the previous version is still supported, while a newer one is out already. However, generally there is no exact date to until when this version is supported.
I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.
Replied by holch on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
gaudreaj wrote: Hi,
- What is the release cycle of versions? For example: Minor version (X.Y) every 6 months and bug fixes (X.Y.Z) every month
Here is my personal view (I am not involved in development and have no deeper insights, just the experience of hanging out in this forum a lot) of the release cycles:
When it's ready, its ready. So there is no fixed cycle for minor versions and bug fixes are released very frequently, sometimes more than once a week, if necessary
What is the general support for released versions? For how long is a major/minor version supported (bug fixes and security fixes)?
When a new version comes out, the previous version is generally is not supported anymore. It is highly recommended to upgrade. However, in some cases the Limesurvey developer team has offered LTS support for some versions. This means the previous version is still supported, while a newer one is out already. However, generally there is no exact date to until when this version is supported.
I answer at the LimeSurvey forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
No support via private message.
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by holch.
The following user(s) said Thank You: DenisChenu
The topic has been locked.
- Joffm
- Offline
- LimeSurvey Community Team
Less
More
- Posts: 12940
- Thank you received: 3979
5 years 8 months ago #172793
by Joffm
Volunteers are not paid.
Not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless
Replied by Joffm on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
Hi,
to get an idea what happened in the past:
here you find the release notes from 2007 until now.
github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/blob/ma...cs/release_notes.txt
Joffm
to get an idea what happened in the past:
here you find the release notes from 2007 until now.
github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/blob/ma...cs/release_notes.txt
Joffm
Volunteers are not paid.
Not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless
The topic has been locked.
- LouisGac
- Visitor
5 years 8 months ago - 5 years 8 months ago #172805
by LouisGac
Replied by LouisGac on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
Hi Jean Philippe,
First thing: limesurvey.org offers a SaaS where we host thousands of professional users. We guarantee them a continuous service, and they feel in a perfectly stable environment. We manage for them the updates, and let them choose when they should upgrade to a new major version.
To answer directly to your question:
What is the release cycle of versions?
we're in a typical open source approach: release early, release often. we're trying to make LimeSurvey evolve a lot since few years, so this is for us the perfect software development philosophy:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often
We're pushing the LimeSurvey users to update and upgrade as much as possible, fixing bugs and adding features on the fly.
We don't have so many people in the community involved in testing the beta of the new major versions (like 3.0). So when we release a major one, we often publish a lot of bug fixes in the coming weeks after that. But indeed, this is the case for most software, and we don't release new major version that often. We're now at 3.x, and 4.x should not be out before end of 2019, maybe 2020. Also, survey themes and question themes will be compatibles between 3.0 and 4.0, so it should not be a big deal to upgrade.
What is the general support for released versions? For how long is a major/minor version supported (bug fixes and security fixes)?
About the "LTS" concept, as I told you first: we're having people on our SaaS still using the the 2.73 version. So we must apply to it the security fixes, and if they're critical (this doesn't happen often) we do it immediately. Also, LimeSurvey is Open Source, and any one can fork it. Denis Chenu, a french developer and one of the contributor of LimeSurvey core, host a fork of LimeSurvey 2.06 for his clients. He applies to it not only the security fixes, but also fixes for PHP 7 hosting, and even improvements of his own:
github.com/SondagesPro/LimeSurvey-SondagesPro
Is there some kind of security vulnerabilities announcements somewhere
If any security release is done, you'll have a clear alert about it in your installation at login via the comfortUpdate component. Git commits related to security are prefixed with [security], eg:
github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/commit/...c8424b3005deb49a47f7
To summarize:
If you use our SaaS, you don't have to worry about anything. Your installation will be maintained by the team, we'll update for you your installation, you'll feel in a perfectly stable environment. If we do a major release, you'll can upgrade when you feel ready.
If you're in self hosted environment, subscribe to the comfortUpdate for easy update.
Then, update in two cases:
- each time we do a security release (clearly warn after login)
- when you face a bug in your installation (we're now at 3.14, and only advanced features still have some small bugs)
- and at least once a month, or each couple of month, to get the new features and the minor fixes.
First thing: limesurvey.org offers a SaaS where we host thousands of professional users. We guarantee them a continuous service, and they feel in a perfectly stable environment. We manage for them the updates, and let them choose when they should upgrade to a new major version.
To answer directly to your question:
What is the release cycle of versions?
we're in a typical open source approach: release early, release often. we're trying to make LimeSurvey evolve a lot since few years, so this is for us the perfect software development philosophy:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often
We're pushing the LimeSurvey users to update and upgrade as much as possible, fixing bugs and adding features on the fly.
We don't have so many people in the community involved in testing the beta of the new major versions (like 3.0). So when we release a major one, we often publish a lot of bug fixes in the coming weeks after that. But indeed, this is the case for most software, and we don't release new major version that often. We're now at 3.x, and 4.x should not be out before end of 2019, maybe 2020. Also, survey themes and question themes will be compatibles between 3.0 and 4.0, so it should not be a big deal to upgrade.
What is the general support for released versions? For how long is a major/minor version supported (bug fixes and security fixes)?
About the "LTS" concept, as I told you first: we're having people on our SaaS still using the the 2.73 version. So we must apply to it the security fixes, and if they're critical (this doesn't happen often) we do it immediately. Also, LimeSurvey is Open Source, and any one can fork it. Denis Chenu, a french developer and one of the contributor of LimeSurvey core, host a fork of LimeSurvey 2.06 for his clients. He applies to it not only the security fixes, but also fixes for PHP 7 hosting, and even improvements of his own:
github.com/SondagesPro/LimeSurvey-SondagesPro
Is there some kind of security vulnerabilities announcements somewhere
If any security release is done, you'll have a clear alert about it in your installation at login via the comfortUpdate component. Git commits related to security are prefixed with [security], eg:
github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/commit/...c8424b3005deb49a47f7
To summarize:
If you use our SaaS, you don't have to worry about anything. Your installation will be maintained by the team, we'll update for you your installation, you'll feel in a perfectly stable environment. If we do a major release, you'll can upgrade when you feel ready.
If you're in self hosted environment, subscribe to the comfortUpdate for easy update.
Then, update in two cases:
- each time we do a security release (clearly warn after login)
- when you face a bug in your installation (we're now at 3.14, and only advanced features still have some small bugs)
- and at least once a month, or each couple of month, to get the new features and the minor fixes.
Last edit: 5 years 8 months ago by LouisGac.
The topic has been locked.
- jelo
- Offline
- Platinum Member
Less
More
- Posts: 5033
- Thank you received: 1257
5 years 8 months ago #172808
by jelo
developer.joomla.org/news/586-joomla-development-strategy.html
symfony.com/doc/current/contributing/community/releases.html
Since LimeSurvey is based on Yii 1.1, at least the release cycle of Yii will be part of the game.
Since you mentioned LS 4. Will it be based on Yii 2.X?
The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users
Replied by jelo on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
The threadstarter seems to be looking for something like this:LouisGac wrote: What is the release cycle of versions?
we're in a typical open source approach:
developer.joomla.org/news/586-joomla-development-strategy.html
symfony.com/doc/current/contributing/community/releases.html
Since LimeSurvey is based on Yii 1.1, at least the release cycle of Yii will be part of the game.
www.yiiframework.com/news/178/yii-1-1-20-is-releasedYii 1.1.20 is compatible with PHP 7.2 that, at the time of this writing, has an announced security support until November 30, 2020
Since you mentioned LS 4. Will it be based on Yii 2.X?
The meaning of the word "stable" for users
www.limesurvey.org/forum/development/117...ord-stable-for-users
The following user(s) said Thank You: DenisChenu
The topic has been locked.
- LouisGac
- Visitor
5 years 8 months ago #172810
by LouisGac
Hard to say, I hope so. Yii2.X and Bootstrap 4 would be perfect.
Replied by LouisGac on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
jelo wrote:
Since LimeSurvey is based on Yii 1.1, at least the release cycle of Yii will be part of the game.www.yiiframework.com/news/178/yii-1-1-20-is-releasedYii 1.1.20 is compatible with PHP 7.2 that, at the time of this writing, has an announced security support until November 30, 2020
Since you mentioned LS 4. Will it be based on Yii 2.X?
Hard to say, I hope so. Yii2.X and Bootstrap 4 would be perfect.
The topic has been locked.
- DenisChenu
- Offline
- LimeSurvey Community Team
Less
More
- Posts: 13648
- Thank you received: 2491
5 years 7 months ago #173023
by DenisChenu
github.com/marmelab/universal.css#faq
:pinch:
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
Replied by DenisChenu on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
Arg … bootstrap4 is a web semantic heresyLouisGac wrote: Bootstrap 4 would be perfect.
github.com/marmelab/universal.css#faq
:pinch:
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
The topic has been locked.
- LouisGac
- Visitor
5 years 7 months ago #173025
by LouisGac
You were already saying that about Bootstrap 3
But indeed, LS4 will provide retro-compatibility with LS3 themes, so with BS3, so it will be multi-engine, so it will be possible to bring any other CSS framework with it.
I was thinking about Foundation. What would you suggest?
www.webdesigndegreecenter.org/ten-best-c...evelopers-designers/
Replied by LouisGac on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
DenisChenu wrote:
Arg … bootstrap4 is a web semantic heresyLouisGac wrote: Bootstrap 4 would be perfect.
github.com/marmelab/universal.css#faq
:pinch:
You were already saying that about Bootstrap 3
But indeed, LS4 will provide retro-compatibility with LS3 themes, so with BS3, so it will be multi-engine, so it will be possible to bring any other CSS framework with it.
I was thinking about Foundation. What would you suggest?
www.webdesigndegreecenter.org/ten-best-c...evelopers-designers/
The topic has been locked.
- DenisChenu
- Offline
- LimeSurvey Community Team
Less
More
- Posts: 13648
- Thank you received: 2491
5 years 7 months ago - 5 years 7 months ago #173026
by DenisChenu
BS4 : they do more and more issue like that, it's really incomprehensible … totally the contrary of ldo support guide : codeguide.co/
Else : i'm not for one CSS framework . Here it's more a BS4 issue only .
If able to use own framework, unsure maybe www.knacss.com/ but not for core surely … (i relly like the em/rem system than the px system ) (or maybe only github.com/twbs/bootstrap/blob/v4-dev/di...bootstrap-reboot.css ;) )
Adding some BS part for "user know using text-danger etc …"
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
Replied by DenisChenu on topic Questions on release cycle and versions support
BS3 have really less part than that .LouisGac wrote:
DenisChenu wrote:
Arg … bootstrap4 is a web semantic heresyLouisGac wrote: Bootstrap 4 would be perfect.
You were already saying that about Bootstrap 3
BS4 : they do more and more issue like that, it's really incomprehensible … totally the contrary of ldo support guide : codeguide.co/
Else : i'm not for one CSS framework . Here it's more a BS4 issue only .
If able to use own framework, unsure maybe www.knacss.com/ but not for core surely … (i relly like the em/rem system than the px system ) (or maybe only github.com/twbs/bootstrap/blob/v4-dev/di...bootstrap-reboot.css ;) )
Adding some BS part for "user know using text-danger etc …"
Assistance on LimeSurvey forum and LimeSurvey core development are on my free time.
I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH member, professional service on demand , plugin development .
I don't answer to private message.
Last edit: 5 years 7 months ago by DenisChenu.
The topic has been locked.