[Bioc-devel] kosher to expand & improve vignette after release?

[Martin Morgan]

On 04/13/2011 11:03 AM, Steve Lianoglou wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 12:53 PM, Paul Shannon
> <pshannon at systemsbiology.org>  wrote:
>> Is it permitted (tolerated? welcomed? discouraged?) to enhance and extend my package's vignette after the release?
>
> I know that if I were a user of your package, I'd very much
> *encourage* you to do so :-)

Hi Paul -- changes to release are meant to be bug fix only, so if the 
vignette contains a bug then fixing it would be appropriate.

In the more usual context of code, one reason is stability, for user and 
other package code that depends on the release. Another set of reasons 
involve simplicity for the developer, and the freedom that the devel 
branch provides for trying things out that you might end up being 
unsatisfied with.

These seem to apply, though less convincingly, to the vignette as well 
-- e.g., the user expects to refer to the vignette and find the same 
thing from one week to the next (that little gem of wisdom that is now 
only one of an abundance), and those really clever ideas for conveying 
how the package can be used can turn out, after a few weeks' reflection, 
to be a little esoteric.

So the answer is to reflect very carefully on changes introduced to the 
release branch, with the firm aim of correcting errors.

Martin


>
> -steve
>


-- 
Computational Biology
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
1100 Fairview Ave. N. PO Box 19024 Seattle, WA 98109

Location: M1-B861
Telephone: 206 667-2793