The dictum of “Release early, release often.” by Eric Raymond as the Linux modus operandi highlights the importance of release management in open source software development. However, there are very few empirical studies addressing release management in this context. It is already known that most open source software communities adopt either a feature-based or time-based release strategy. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages that are also context-specific. Recent research reports that many prominent open source software projects have overcome a number of recurrent problems by moving from feature-based to time-based release strategies. In this longitudinal case study, we address the release management practices of OpenStack, a large scale open source project developing cloud computing technologies. We discuss how the release management practices of OpenStack have evolved in terms of chosen strategy and timeframes with close attention to processes and tools. We discuss the number of practical and managerial issues related to release management within the context of large and complex software ecosystems. Our findings also reveal that multiple release management cycles can co-exist in large and complex software ecosystems such as OpenStack.

中文翻译：

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设法在OpenStack软件生态系统中尽早且经常地发布

“提早发布，经常发布”的格言。由Eric Raymond撰写的Linux操作方法强调了发行管理在开源软件开发中的重要性。但是，在这种情况下，很少有针对释放管理的实证研究。众所周知，大多数开源软件社区都采用基于功能或基于时间的发布策略。两者都有各自的优点和缺点，这些优点和缺点也与上下文有关。最近的研究报告表明，许多著名的开源软件项目通过从基于功能的发布策略过渡到基于时间的发布策略，已经克服了许多反复出现的问题。在此纵向案例研究中，我们介绍了OpenStack的发布管理实践，OpenStack是开发云计算技术的大型开源项目。我们将讨论OpenStack的发布管理实践如何根据选定的策略和时间表发展，并密切关注流程和工具。我们讨论了在大型和复杂的软件生态系统中与发布管理相关的许多实际和管理问题。我们的发现还表明，多个发行管理周期可以在大型和复杂的软件生态系统（例如OpenStack）中共存。