[gs-devel] timeline for future Ghostscript versions?

[lazer1]

On 08-Jan-07, Jeff wrote:
>Hi,

>I'm a fellow gs user and peruser of the source code.

>Out of curiosity, what features (or bugs fixed) would you expect to
>see any versions?

>Otherwise it seems a bit odd to request information on when version
>x.yy and z.aa is going to be available...

>Jeff

as you point out my question is anachronistic,

footnote: some software such as Windows does have future versions lined
up, eg some russian guy hacked into a version of Windows 13 years in the
future which MS vigourously denied. And Vista is developed in parallel 
to XP being debugged.

presumably a released version of Ghostscript is chiselled in stone,
eg on release not a single byte of 8.54 will change. Bug fixes are 
presumably accumulated in perhaps a 8.55beta available only to 
betatesters. So 8.55beta will continuously be changing until it has
stabilised sufficiently at which point the stabilised version is 
chiselled in stone as 8.55 which is released.

My question really is what version number will the current beta be
released as and the envisioned timeline. eg if the number of bugs is:

year week bugs

2006 46  25
2006 47  22
2006 48  20
2006 49  18
2006 50  15
2006 51  19
2006 52  11
2007  1  13

then that would suggest some months before stability, perhaps 9 weeks,

whereas if the bug count were:

10 9 6 8 3 4 0 1

then stability seems imminent,