xerox 19780629 Mesa Release Plan free download

File name 19780629_Mesa_Release_Plan.pdf

" Inter-Office Memomndum- To David Liddle Date June 29, 1978 From John Wick Location Palo Alto Subject Mesa release plan Organization SDD/SD XEROX XEROX SDD ABCHIVkg I have read and understoud Pages To - , - i -- _ ' Filed on: [MAXC] MESARELEASEPLAN.BRAYO Eevlewer_________ Date_~______ , of PageS_ _ Ref., 28'S./JJ) -15,3 This memo reflects our current thinking on Mesa release planning through 1979. It summarizes the results of several meetings with Bill Lynch (Pilot), Robert Kierr (Oak), Bob Metcalfe (System Architecture), Jerry Szelong (Product Software). and John Weaver (Development Environment). Most of the discussion centered on sorting out the dependencies of Pilot and Star on Mesa. Pilot dependencies involve the machine architecture and Mesa runtiMe support. To minimize dependence on Development Environment systems, it was agreed that Pilot should be prepared to implement and maintain its own microcode and runtime software, separate from that used by the Alto/Mesa system. This will result in some amount of duplicated effort in maintaining two versions of these modules, but will greatly reduce the interdependencies of these two projects. Star dependencies other than those contained within Pilot involve language features implemented by the Mesa compiler and binder. Both Pilot and Star depend on a debugger that understands the underlying architecture and runtime structure of programs written in Mesa. Release Definition Functional releases (designated n.O) may contain language or system changes as well as extensions, and therefore may require source editing. A maintenance release (designated n.m, m)O) contains no source-level incompatibilities with its predecessor; existing programs compile, bind, and run without change (but to realize the benefit of a bug fix, minor source changes may be necessary). Recompilation of all or part of existing systems may be required. Mesa Releases Except for the short term. maintenance releases which might be required are not included in the following schedule. As Star approaches alpha and beta test status, it may be necessary to perform maintenance on systems older than the current release. Mesa 4.1 August 31,