Is there a LTS JasperReports version?

[hozawa]

Some open source projects have lts (long term support) versions. Is there a lts version of JasperReports?

JasperReports claims to be an Enterprise software, but many enterprises only do an upgrade every 3 to 5 years. I was wondering if JasperReports really is Enterprise ready in this term.

[djohnson53]

No technology does releases in a 3 to 5 year cycle anymore, if they ever did.  It would face extinction.  5 years is like a geological epoch. The whole eco-system that it existed in would've changed by then.  This is the compelling argument for agile methodology - fast, small releases, constant feedback from users, quick adaption to changing requirements. LTS?  Never heard of it.  Maybe if you're in some sort of protected or moribund market, the equivalent of being a Galapagos Tortoise on a small isolated island.

How long did it take the Enterprise of Research In Motion (BlackBerry) to dominate the cell phone market and how long it took for it to disappear. Its been, what 4-5 years since its big slide into extinction. No one even considers it now. Most folks would be surprised to know that the company still exists. But even they didn't release product at such a leisurely pace.  3 to 5 years? That's funny.

 

[hozawa]

djohnson53,

FYI, I speak at agile conferences.

Being agile is unfortunately not the same as changing technology - agile is about being able to change PARTS quickly. The time frame is now often is minutes and hours - not months. To be able to do this, a very good system and software architecture that is very stable and can incorporate changes in parts is necessary.  In terms of this, JasperReports is a very good software because I can add and change components and features while staying on a same version.

Unfortunately, a simple fix to resolve a bug requires a versioning up JasperReports Server, adding features to adhoc reports requires too much time and the possiblity of being able to use this feature in the new version is very limited.

Agile requires to first to determine what the value is. What is of value should not change while things to keep the value in the changing environment should be made changeable.

In more layman's terms, architecture of a hotel should be such that rooms can be remodelled to keep up with guests needs but one shouldn't blast and rebuild a hotel each year.

 

[djohnson53]

Well, I like your hotel metaphor. And that may be how folks want it to be.  And, not to be snarky, I really don't care where you do public speaking. But - you've got me thinking.

I'm also used to having to update my own thinking. I just celebrated my 62nd birthday. I didn't stay in this profession for over 30 years by refusing to be proven wrong.

Wikipedia entry for Long Term Support: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_support

Thanks for the interesting question.

[hozawa]

Section "Need for long-term support" says it all. We're building on top of JRS. Creating reports, Adhoc, Dashboards as well as integrating with other systems. When there are over 1,000 reports, 200 adhoc and dashboards each made to be pixel perfect, customers don't want to upgrade often because they have to recheck each reports, adhocs, and dashboards to be pixel perfect as well as work as expected. They would rather be using their time creating more reports, adhoc, and dashboards and integrating with other systems rather than upgrading periodically to get few additional features each time.

[djohnson53]

That I can empathize with.

[kkumlien]

There is now, 8.0 is our first LTS release: https://support.tibco.com/s/article/Changes-to-the-TIBCO-Jaspersoft-Release-Cycle-and-Introduction-of-Long-Term-Support-Model