[tbb-dev] Changes in the Tor Browser usual release schedule? [Was: Tor Browser 11.5.1 (Windows/macOS/Linux) is ready for testing]

[Nicolas Vigier]

On Mon, 25 Jul 2022, intrigeri wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> Pier Angelo Vendrame (2022-07-23):
> > On 23/07/22 10:54, intrigeri wrote:
> >> This is quite early compared to what I understand in the Tor Browser
> >> release calendar, where the rebase is scheduled for August 2, so I'm
> >> wondering: is the 11.5.1 desktop release still planned for August 9?
> >
> > The scheduled release date is next Tuesday (July 26).
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> FTR, I was looking at the NextCloud calendar linked from
> https://gitlab.torproject.org/tpo/applications/tor-browser/-/wikis/Release-Schedule
> 
> Is there a better place for downstreams such as Tails to access
> (ideally, up-to-date and reliable) release schedule information?

Yes, the date on the NextCloud calendar is not correct. Maybe it was an
error when it was added to the calendar, or Mozilla changed their
release date after we added it to our calendar and we didn't update it.

I think the most reliable way for stable release dates is the Mozilla
calendar, as we usually try to have our releases on the same day as
Mozilla. If our calendar has a release that is not on the same date as
Mozilla, it's usually an additional release (for other changes than
regular ESR point release rebases), or an error.

> 
> > For a coincidence we ended up releasing 11.5 close to Mozilla's release 
> > of Firefox 91.12 ESR. Therefore, we have rebased to it directly on 
> > stable, instead of releasing an alpha (12.0a1) first.
> 
> Do I understand correctly that from now on, you plan to release an
> alpha rebased on top of the new ESR, and *later* release a stable
> rebased as well?

No, we will continue what we have been doing (rebasing first the stable
release on top of the new ESR point release to have it ready on the same
day as Mozilla, and rebasing the alpha after that).