[Article idea] How hard it is to release major versions

[matks]

@ttoine @eternoendless

Recently I add a discussion on Twitter where the topic of PrestaShop slow major releases lifecycle was discussed. I thought it would be interesting to explain how hard it is to release new major versions and be able to onboard the community with this new version (to avoid a split like PS 1.6 / PS 1.7 some years ago).

Would it be a good idea for the PrestaShop Build blog, or would it be too specific (and then I'll write this article on my own blog) ?

The article would explain what a new major release could bring (benefits), with what cost, and how hard it is to make everybody (module developer, integrators, hosting providers, agencies, freelances and merchants) adopt the new major version by making the big jump.

[matks]

Note: another idea, to talk with a really technical audience, is to publish on dev.to as PrestaShop team.

[matks]

Topics to cover in this article:

• fragmentation of versions (multiple versions being run in the wild, making the task harder for ecosystem agents)
• new major version = possible version split such as Magento2 / Magento1
• module & theme developers want to hit an audience as large as possible so version fragmentation is bad for business
• and then follow other ecocystem agents like agencies, hosting providers, SEO experts ... version fragmentation is very bad ; people are afraid of using latest systems
• however BC breaks are needed to evolve and make the software better: paradox