[Rdap] Fedora 4 Call to Action-Test Your Favorite Feature!

[Carol Minton Morris]

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

April 8, 2014
Read it online: http://bit.ly/1hUQw2G

*Fedora 4 Call to Action-Test Your Favorite Feature!*

*Winchester, MA * A Fedora 4.0 beta will be released in time for Open
Repositories 2014. The full list of features to be included in the 4.0 beta
and the release is *available here
<https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/FF/Fedora+4.0+Feature+Set>*.

One of the primary goals of Fedora 4 is to produce stable, production-ready
software that can be used by the entire repository community. The objective
of the 4.0 release is to give the development team an opportunity to
receive feedback from early adopters and improve the stability of the
software before recommending it for existing Fedora 3 repositories. To this
end, the initial Fedora 4.0 release is targeted at new installations, not
migrations from existing Fedora installations.

There are a number of desirable features, including support for migrations
from earlier versions of Fedora, that are not scheduled to appear in the
4.0 release. Instead, these features will be scheduled, based on priority
and available development resources, for upcoming releases in the 4.x line.
Migration support is a particularly important feature, so this is likely to
be included in the 4.1 release. All planned features, along with their
associated use cases, can be found on the *wiki
<https://wiki.duraspace.org/display/FF/Roadmap>*.

The timeline for the 4.0 release, along with further releases in the 4.x
line, is subject to the level of community engagement. Fedora 4 is
designed, developed, tested, and documented entirely based on community
contributions. For Fedora 4 to be a successful project these contributions
need to continue. *There are at least three ways to contribute:*

*Acceptance Testing*

Fedora 4.0 features are tied to use cases submitted by members of the
community. Once a use case is considered to be satisfied by the development
team, it goes back to the community for acceptance testing. No use case or
feature is considered complete until it has been validated by the community.

The 4.0 feature set, with associated use cases, can be found in the wiki.
Acceptance testing can be as simple as loading up the one-click installer,
testing a specific feature, and providing feedback. More information can be
found on the Acceptance Testing page in the wiki. If you are interested in
testing a use case or feature, please contact David Wilcox (
dwilcox at duraspace.org).

*Beta Pilots*

In addition to acceptance testing, we also need more in-depth testing in
the form of Beta Pilots. Institutions participating as Beta Pilots will
sign a letter of agreement to commit to a 4-6 month testing phase where
they will install the Fedora 4.0 beta, ingest a variety of content, and
test the software as extensively as possible. The Fedora Product Manager
and Fedora Tech Lead will work with these institutions to hold regular
update meetings and to produce a detailed report at the end of the six
month Beta Pilot period.

Participating institutions will have access to support from the Fedora 4
developer community, including the Fedora mailing lists, IRC channel, and
regular meetings. They will also be referenced in press releases and other
materials relating to the launch of Fedora 4.0.

*Developer Commitments*

Fedora 4 is developed entirely by volunteers from the community. The
current set of volunteer commitments extends until the end of June, so we
need to line up the following six months of commitments soon. These
commitments are essential to Fedora 4 development; without them, we will be
unable to deliver a 4.0 release or subsequent releases in the 4.x line.

The Fedora 4 development team follows an Agile "Scrum" methodology;
developers sign up for a number of two-week code sprints, and they are
expected to be fully committed to the development team for the length of
each scheduled sprint. Any institution that commits a developer for at
least 0.5 FTE over the six month period is eligible to sit on the
Leadership Group, which helps guide the software in the right direction.

Please contact Andrew Woods (awoods at duraspace.org) to sign up and join the
team!

-- 
Carol Minton Morris
DuraSpace
Director of Marketing and Communications
cmmorris at DuraSpace.org
Skype: carolmintonmorris
607 592-3135
Twitter at DuraSpace <http://twitter.com/duraspace>
Twitter at DuraCloud <http://twitter.com/duracloud>
http://DuraSpace.org
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