To release Samba 4.0 'as is'

[John H Terpstra]

On 11/22/2011 11:33 AM, Jeremy Allison wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 05:13:16PM +1100, Andrew Bartlett wrote:
>> I would like to propose that we proceed to making a pre-release of Samba
>> 4.0 in the next month (ie, before Christmas), and that we propose to
>> release Samba 4.0 'as is' regarding major features.
>>
>> To be clear, I propose that the DNS server work continue, and we seek a
>> resolution of the best approach here over the time between now and a
>> release, but we do not block a release on this point.  (I am confident
>> however that those involved will have a good solution, and even the
>> current flat file is clearly good enough for our many users).
>>
>> I also propose that we do not make the major architectural changes
>> between now and the release to change file server or winbind
>> implementations for the AD DC.  Instead, we continue to build on the
>> massive efforts already made here over the next few months, but we will
>> not change the default behaviour for a 4.0 release.
>>
>> This will give the vendors (Univention and Resara) and our numerous
>> users who are building on top of Samba 4.0 alpha releases a stable
>> release to move to, based on the current architecture, before we make
>> the change to a common file server for Samba 4.1.
>>
>> This will mean we continue to ship smbd, nmbd, winbindd, samba etc as
>> found in the current alpha releases.
>>
>> With this plan, and with the quality brought about by our continuous
>> integration approach, I think we can make a Samba 4.0 release in a
>> reasonable time-frame, perhaps with a final release in about three
>> months time.
>>
>> I do wish to be clear that I'm certainly not abandoning the idea of a
>> single file server, and I know many others on the team have also
>> invested great amounts of their own time in this effort.  It is
>> important not only for NAS vendors who wish to add AD to the NAS (an
>> idea I raise with every NAS vendor I get the chance to speak to), but
>> also our users who still regularly ask for a combined release with the
>> AD server, file server and print server all present in the same runtime
>> installation.
>>
>> What do others think?
>
> -1. We can't do this. It isn't an integrated product yet,
> it's just a grab bag of non-integrated features.

Ouch!

> Without proper design and code to implement the source3
> fileserver, winbind and nmbd integration we simply don't
> have a finished product. The integrated fileserver is a
> MUST HAVE for a 4.0 release.

That is certainly correct.  The moment Samba4 is released our users 
expect it to replace Samba3 entirely.

> Rightly or wrongly Samba4 is seen as the replacement
> for Samba3. If you ship what you have now you put the
> Team members who support OEM fileservers in an incredibly
> difficult position w.r.t. marketing and communications
> with our customers, not to mention the Linux distros.
>
> Don't just ship whatever you have out the door, you need
> to produce a plan to finish the missing features, and
> create bug reports to track them.
>
> If you want to split the codebase and Team efforts completely,
> releasing an unfinished Samba4 is an excellent way to do it.
>
> Jeremy.

- John T.