Apache Subversion Roadmap

Upcoming Releases ¶

The following is a preliminary timetable for the next few upcoming releases. Dates, feature deliverables, and even version numbers found in this list are all subject to change (and become increasingly more speculative the further out we attempt to project). Fortunately, the same dynamics that allow features to fall out of releases or for release dates to slip also allow for feature and release acceleration. That's the nature of open-source, community-driven software projects (and we think it's a great thing). So if you don't like what you see here, do something about it: your contributions are always welcome!

We try to roll releases on Wednesdays. Like most of the other information on this page, the day we roll isn't a hard-and-fast rule, but it is something that has been useful in the past. Rolling mid-week gives us enough time for the release preparation process in the couple of days prior to the release, and some time before the weekend for validation of the release tarballs. The release is finalized and announced as soon after the completion of the validation process as possible. See the documentation of our release process for more information.

How We Plan Releases ¶

Subversion plans to make a regular release every 6 months, with a Long-Term Support (LTS) release every 2 years. Regular releases are intended to deliver new features more quickly, while LTS releases are intended to provide stability over longer periods.

During the support period, we commit to providing updates that fix high priority issues such as security and data loss or corruption. We may also sometimes fix other issues as appropriate to the emphasis of each release. If a release takes longer than planned, we will extend the support periods of the previous releases accordingly.

In this context, "release" means an increment of the minor release number, which is the middle number in our three-component system. Thus, 1.2.0, 1.3.0, and 1.4.0 are successive minor releases in the "1.x" line, whereas 1.1.1, 1.1.2, and 1.1.3 are successive patch (bugfix) releases in the "1.1.x" line. We don't schedule patch releases far in advance, we just put them out when we feel enough bugfixes have accumulated to warrant it. Major new releases, such as Subversion 2.0, will probably be done much like the minor releases, just with more planning around the exact features.

For more information about Subversion's release numbering and compatibility policies, see the section entitled "Release numbering, compatibility, and deprecation" in the Subversion Community Guide.

Transition to LTS and Regular Releases

Summary:

• 1.9 and 1.10 are treated as LTS releases
• 1.11 and later follow the time-based release schedule
• the next LTS release after 1.10 will be 1.14 LTS

Subversion 1.0 through 1.10 were released at intervals varying from around 6 months in early versions to 2.5 years more recently. Each of those releases was supported with general backports until the next release and with high priority fixes until the next release after that.

We are introducing faster regular releases in order to get new features out sooner, to make feature development more appealing, rewarding and faster for both the contributors and the users. We are changing to a time-based schedule so that administrators and integrators of Subversion software can better plan their upgrade cycles, particularly with the LTS schedule.

The LTS support schedule will apply also to 1.10 and 1.9 (the existing supported releases), so each will receive support for 4 years from its initial release. General enhancements will go into the regular releases and will not be backported to 1.10.

Our "Most Wanted" Features ¶

The following is a list of "most wanted" features/enhancements we've identified as important and achievable, in no particular order, along with the chain of dependendies we believe exist and stand in the way of our delivering these items in Subversion. This is not an exhaustive list! It merely represents some of the "the big ones" — big in impact, and probably big in development cost.

Fill in the details here!

Next Release Status (Subversion 1.11) ¶

The following table contains items currently targetted for the subsequent major release, along with their completion status. It is meant mainly for developers, but can help answer the oft-asked question "how is the next release coming along?" If you are interested in helping speed up the next release, consider tackling one of the incomplete items below.

This table is nonexhaustive — it neither contains nor attempts to contain all the features planned for this release.

Past Releases ¶

For information about past releases, see the release notes.