[Bioc-devel] Distinction between release and devel package websites

[Martin Morgan]

On 07/23/2014 06:41 PM, Leonardo Collado Torres wrote:
> Finally, regarding the issue of pushing new features to devel versions
> (and not release), I understand the reasons for doing so. In my case,
> what I have been trying to do to minimize major differences between
> the versions is to keep working on the package outside of BioC until
> we are more confident on its stability. Kind of pre-devel. Pre-devel
> users (just a handful) can then install it via
> devtools::install_github(). I understand that not every package
> workflow is like this, but well, it could be a suggestion worth
> mentioning athttp://www.bioconductor.org/developers/package-guidelines/
> Though of course, maybe it's better to have "pre-devel" packages be
> submitted to BioC-devel and drive all the traffic through BioC. Just
> some thoughts.

Frankly, this doesn't sound like a good idea to me. It confuses the user (what, 
I'm supposed to be using github? I thought this was a Bioconductor package!), 
makes your life as a developer difficult (three versions to maintain), and 
introduces code (i.e., bugs!) where it isn't tested.

I'd just go for broke, make wild changes to your devel code, let the build 
system do it's magic, get leading-edge users to knowingly try out your changes, 
shake out some bugs, and have a nice clean ride into release and a grateful 
audience of appreciative users. Sure work in git if that's your flavor, but 
merge frequently with master and sync with bioc; never expect your users to 
install 'the latest' from github.

Martin
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