Release Team (Third time's the charm!)

PortableApps.com is pleased to be resurrecting the Release Team once again, with the stated intention of clearing up the backlog of applications waiting for release. Without further ado, here's some answers to questions you may have:

What is the release team?

The release team is what takes apps from development test to official release. The release team tests and provides feedback on programs in the Beta Testing forum. The release team is listed on the “Our Team” page, as well as have a release team badge set on their account to indicate their status.

What do I need to commit to?

This is subject to change but the current thought is one app per week per team, for either 3 or 6 months. If you’re unable to be involved for a period of time, that’s not a problem, although absences from active testing for a period of one (1) month, with illnesses, etc, notwithstanding; will constitute grounds for removal from the team, unless the team leads have already been made aware of your pending absence. If you are aware that you will be unavailable for a month or longer, you may be set as inactive if you wish, and rejoin when you are available to do so. You will need to test the app for portability, and provide feedback on its compatibility with the Format. This is not a huge amount of time, but the commitment is important, this team needs to be stable and start churning out apps for it to be a success.

What do I need to do to join?

If you are an active developer, or have been active on the forums the past six months, you may be eligible to join the team. If you're interested, hop onto our IRC channel and ask about it. One of the team leads will get back to regarding joining. If approved, It may take a couple days to get the correct permissions set on the site.

How is the release team setup?

The release team is broken into sub-teams, each of which work on approximately 1 application per week, although this may not mean 2 apps pushed for release per week, depending on any issues found while testing. Two release team members must sign off on each section of testing prior to an app being verified by a release team lead. To begin with, there will be two sub-teams. This may change in the future.

What do I need to do on the team? (What responsibilities do I have?)

As listed on the Development Release Status page, apps must be tested for the following:

• PAF compatiblity: Does the application pass validation against the PortableApps.com Format? (can be tested easily using the PA.c Dev. Toolkit)
• OS: What operating systems is the application compatible with (minimum of XP, Vista, and 7, with WINE being a bonus)
• PC: Are any files or registry changes left on the host machine?
• Data: Is the app's data (MRU, settings) updated when the path changes? This includes changing the directory structure that the application is running from. IE., X:\PortableApps\AppNamePortable to Y:\AppNamePortable
• Code: Code review to look for any issues, ensure INI and passed parameters work
• Notes: Any additional notes (IE., was the app portablized using PAL or is it homebrew?)
• License: What license is the application being released under, and if Freeware, is the publisher alongside? Are necessary license files included in the correct locations? IE. for the launcher, Other\Source\LauncherLicense.txt, for a freeware EULA Other\Source\EULA.txt
• Ready?: Is the app ready to advance to Final? This determination will be made by the team leads, after each of the other sections is signed off by at least 2 other members of the team.
• Status indicators: Status indicators for each section of testing are listed in the Development Release Status topic.

How does an application move from Development Test on to official?

Once the various sections as above are listed as successful and a team lead has confirmed that the application is ready for release, the release team lead will send the application to John T. Haller for signing and release.

Responsiblities of team leads*

In addition to doing testing as required by all team members, team leads have a few more responsibilities:

• Verify apps that have been tested by the release team to ensure they are ready for release.
• Prepare the "features" information for the app, as well as a screenshot of the app in use.
• Send the application; as well as the features information and screenshot, to John T. Haller for digital signing (for open source apps only) and release on the site (for all apps).

How are applications being chosen for release team review?
The release team will be taking applications from the Apps Ready for Official Release topic. Once this list is exhausted, the release team will begin to go through the Test Releases page, while giving priority to applications being listed, by the portable app developer, in the Apps Ready for Official Release topic.

Current Team members:
ZachThibeau> (Team Lead)
GordCaswell> (Team Lead)
kAlug
winterblood