28.6.2005
Eclipse 3.1 is finally released, and with it the new major version
(2.0) of our Eclipse distribution Yoxos. It was quite a bit of an effort
again.
When a new version of the Eclipse platform arrives, it means a huge
amount of work in a narrow time frame: you have to make the latest build
of the install manager fit; pick up the latest version of all the plugins
around the world; and run a lot of tests over them and build them into a
coherent set. With an important release of Eclipse like this time (which
happens once a year) this is of course squarely so.
And every time you have to make one or two unpopular
decisions concerning a plugin that still works (on top of the new version
of Eclipse), but only just - it would fail not always, but on some
occasions. It's unpopular then to leave it out (because there is always
someone who desperately needs precisely that plugin), and just as unpopular
to keep it in (because someone will inevitably complain, and rightly so,
about the problems it has). Our decision is usually not to throw it out,
unless it interferes with the overall stability of the installation.
On top of all this, the weather here in Karlsruhe has been nearly
tropical during the last few days. But the Yoxos team was very committed
and kept cool, so it was great fun nevertheless.
