Ubuntu Developer Floats The Idea Of "Test Weeks" To Replace Early Alpha/Beta Releases

Prominent Ubuntu community developer Simon Quigley has sparked a discussion about Ubuntu's release milestones and the possibility of moving away with their alpha and beta one milestones moving forward.

Quigley's proposal after consulting with the Xubuntu / Ubuntu MATE / Kubuntu / Ubuntu Budgie teams was using "testing weeks" to replace the previous formal alpha / beta releases. During testing weeks, users would be encouraged to use the latest daily ISOs rather than a blessed "alpha" or "beta" image.

By using the daily ISOs, the images are more bleeding edge than the alpha/beta images that tend to be days out of date by the time they finally ship. By using the daily ISOs also free up resources for developers otherwise bogged down by release management duties. The testing weeks would run from Tuesdays to Thursdays during designated weeks and would encourage users to try out the latest *buntu builds on their system(s) during that period.

The discussion over the future of Ubuntu release milestones just started overnight but those interested in learning more can see this mailing list thread. Ubuntu Kylin and Ubuntu MATE have been among the ones so far publicly voicing their support for this measure while we have yet to hear any remarks from the Ubuntu core developers / Canonical.