mjgardner, 2 months ago

@hongminhee @fediversereport How do you “pre-release” open source software?

hongminhee, 2 months ago

@mjgardner If you want to publish a pre-release version to npm, it's simple. Just use a pre-release version (in accordance with the definition of Semantic Versioning, e.g., 1.2.3-dev.123) and tag it with anything other than latest (you can specify a tag with npm publish --tag option).

mjgardner, 2 months ago

@hongminhee But… it was already released. It’s in a public source code repository. You can download it.

I think you mean a “development” or “unstable” release.

hongminhee, 2 months ago

@mjgardner Oh, right, the pre-release I'm talking about is a pre-release as defined by Semantic Versioning, which means it's not guaranteed to be stable.

mjgardner, 2 months ago

@hongminhee It’s a stupid term for it. https://semver.org/#spec-item-9

hongminhee, 2 months ago

@mjgardner I don't think so, because revealing that a version is unstable by notation is not a bad idea for many users, it just might not be what you need.

mjgardner, 2 months ago

@hongminhee I meant that “pre-release” is the stupid term. Call it “development” or “unstable.”

clacke, 1 month ago

@mjgardner @hongminhee It's not unusual and it's not new to distinguish official releases and versions that are not quite there yet.

Whether it's an alpha, beta, dev version or pre-release it's pretty clear to everyone what it means. There will be a Release, this is not it.

mjgardner, 1 month ago

@clacke @hongminhee This is for both of you

hall of fame game missed the point GIF

clacke, 1 month ago

@mjgardner Your point is that everything is released all the time because anyone can check out a commit and get the product.

That's not how most software people use the term release.

@hongminhee

mjgardner, 1 month ago

@clacke @hongminhee Nope. My point was that the term was inaccurate, and we already have better ones in the context of software development and elsewhere. “Pre-release” typically implies availability to a limited audience.

And don’t lecture me about “most software people.” I’ve been doing this longer than either of you.

Thanks for playing.