Here's a conundrum about which folks may have some useful comments to make. I want to set up a new moodle instance, apply some needed hacks (ie ATwyatt's mega-useful hacks that I used last year — go to the link and scroll down to the entry for June 20th 07) install some modules and then test it out with course backups from last year's courses. So far, so good. But then having done all this I really want to use this particular installation as the production code. In and of itself this is no problem — just tar-gzip the code and copy it into the production location. But the catch then becomes how should I do the initial install?
I could download the latest stable build which is advertised as the best choice for a new server!. This apparently applies all the latest bug fixes but no new features. So, if I do this today I freeze the code at the state it was on July 1 2008. But since I'm going live in mid-August, what about all the bug fixes in the 6-7 weeks between now and then?
Another possibility is to use the CVS download and update this in the interim. But the problem here is that :
- I've been bitten by CVS updates screwing over working installations and having to clean up the mess.
- Making sure CVS updates don't overwrite your hacks is a pain
I ran into the same issue with Elgg and came up with this procedure which essentially enables me to update only non-hacked code with bug fix updates. However, Elgg uses SVN and I'm not sure that the same process could be applied to Moodle with CVS.
So I'd be interested to hear how folks are tackling this issue. Normally, I'm dead keen to get as bug free a version as possible as the basis for my production Moodle. After all, this code will have to last untouched for at least a semester. However, my experience is that 95% of the bug fixes would not affect my users. OTOH when you order the bug fixes in priority order for Issue Navigator — 1.9.x resolved you'll see the so-called blockers at the top. Currently the only bug that would really screw me over if it weren't fixed is MDL-13866 "scale ratings do not work in forum".