Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com>]

Dear MXNet community,

I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
MXNet releases.
I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in parallel:
(1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
<https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586>]. I went ahead and
created a draft release proposal wiki [1
<https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status>
].
(2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
users.
(3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
MXNet.

Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.

I was thinking to get started through:
(1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
propose scope and features.
(2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
(3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
supports.

Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
releases!

MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
better!
Hagay

[0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
[1]
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Pedro Larroy <pe...@gmail.com>]

Great initiative.

I would like to add the issue that tracks APIs that we would like to
break for 2.0 so we can take the chance to streamline and improve
customer facing code:

https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/9686

I would be happy to volunteer for 2.0 release with assistance from a comitter.

Pedro.

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> <https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586>]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> <https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status>
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[kellen sunderland <ke...@gmail.com>]

Release breakdown makes sense to me Hagay.  Thanks for initiating a
discussion.

Some features that I'm personally looking forward to that I hope can make
it into 1.5 (schedule permitting):
*  TensorRT being integrated with the subgraph API
*  VNNI MKLDNN support
*  AMP training in MXNet

I like the idea of having a call to align on features for the 1.5 release.
For those unable to dial in we have a rapporteur who can send notes around
after the meeting.

For the 2.0 release I wonder if we could start a thread that would have a
list of big changes/features people would like to see.  I know there's been
a few changes I've made that required sub-optimal implementations to avoid
a breaking change.  This could be a good opportunity to clean up prior
work.  It'd also be a good opportunity to prune our operators to those that
are well supported, and to make sure they're named and structured in an
understandable way for users and contributors.

-Kellen

On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> <https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586>]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> <
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
>

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com>]

Thanks Kellen, Pedro and Sheng for the feedback.

Kellen -
- Thanks for proposing 1.5 features. Kindly note them on the issue Sheng
created: https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/14619
- For your 2.0 proposals - can you please update them in the issue Sheng
created: https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/issues/9686
Pedro -
- Thank you for volunteering for 2.0 release!
- Thanks for referencing the Issue that tracks 2.0 API updates, looks like
Sheng updated it to track the broader 2.0 features.
Sheng -
- Agreed that each release should be managed separately, my intention was
to kick start thinking for MXNet short term and long term roadmap - we can
fork at this point.
- Thanks for creating the issues for 1.5 and 2.0 - the community can start
surfacing proposals there.
- Agreed that 1.4.1 should include fixes, not features. I'll start a
separate thread on that.

As discussed - we will have separate threads for each of the releases, and
I will start with 1.4.1

Cheers,
Hagay


On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 6:39 PM Sheng Zha <sz...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Hagay,
>
> Thanks for taking the initiative. The proposed scope in this thread is in
> my opinion too large to fit in a single thread, so I'd suggest that we
> start separate threads for each individual release item. To elaborate on
> the reasons based on each individual item:
> - For 1.4.1 which is in the wiki page draft, I'd suggest refraining from
> adding new features there since patch release should be about bug fixes.
> - For 1.5, there are efforts such as AMP and general improvement for fp16
> support in operators, quantization efforts, etc., that should be included.
> I may have a bit more context on this so I'm happy to help initiate the
> discussion.
> - For 2.0, I think it would be more of a roadmap discussion at this stage.
>
> I hope this makes sense. Would you mind starting a thread focusing on 1.4.1
> patch release?
>
> -sz
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Dear MXNet community,
> >
> > I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> > MXNet releases.
> > I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> > parallel:
> > (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf
> regressions
> > and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> > <https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586>]. I went ahead
> and
> > created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> > <
> >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> > >
> > ].
> > (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> > release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> > improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> > for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> > users.
> > (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements
> to
> > MXNet.
> >
> > Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan
> to
> > start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target
> starting
> > once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> > will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
> >
> > I was thinking to get started through:
> > (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> > propose scope and features.
> > (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere,
> where
> > we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> > (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> > supports.
> >
> > Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and
> please
> > reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> > releases!
> >
> > MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> > better!
> > Hagay
> >
> > [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> > [1]
> >
> >
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
>

Re: Discussing plans for next MXNet releases

[Sheng Zha <sz...@gmail.com>]

Hi Hagay,

Thanks for taking the initiative. The proposed scope in this thread is in
my opinion too large to fit in a single thread, so I'd suggest that we
start separate threads for each individual release item. To elaborate on
the reasons based on each individual item:
- For 1.4.1 which is in the wiki page draft, I'd suggest refraining from
adding new features there since patch release should be about bug fixes.
- For 1.5, there are efforts such as AMP and general improvement for fp16
support in operators, quantization efforts, etc., that should be included.
I may have a bit more context on this so I'm happy to help initiate the
discussion.
- For 2.0, I think it would be more of a roadmap discussion at this stage.

I hope this makes sense. Would you mind starting a thread focusing on 1.4.1
patch release?

-sz


On Tue, Apr 2, 2019 at 5:06 PM Hagay Lupesko <lu...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear MXNet community,
>
> I wanted to initiate a discussion about the plan and scope for the next
> MXNet releases.
> I suggest we focus on three releases, and get the process going in
> parallel:
> (1) 1.4.1 - patch release on top of 1.4.0 to address some perf regressions
> and memory leaks I am aware of, such as the memory leak fixed on Scala [0
> <https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586>]. I went ahead and
> created a draft release proposal wiki [1
> <
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
> >
> ].
> (2) 1.5.0 - a minor release to add new features introduced since 1.4.0
> release started (back in Nov 2018!), such as various performance
> improvements: aggregate SGD, in-place updates in optimizers, gpu support
> for image processing operators and many more features useful for MXNet’s
> users.
> (3) 2.0 - an exciting major release that will include major enhancements to
> MXNet.
>
> Timeframes will probably vary based on the scope. I think we should plan to
> start 1.4.1 release within a couple of weeks, 1.5.0 should target starting
> once we release 1.4.1, and 2.0 timeline is TBD - but such a major release
> will require more time to discuss and decide in the community.
>
> I was thinking to get started through:
> (1) Draft proposals on CWiki, where the community can add content and
> propose scope and features.
> (2) Setup online meetings, where anyone can dial into, from anywhere, where
> we will have a chance to discuss in voice+video.
> (3) With (1)+(2) have a scope and timeline that the community, in large,
> supports.
>
> Would be great to get the community's feedback and suggestions, and please
> reply if you would like to be involved in the effort of supporting the
> releases!
>
> MXNet is awesome, looking forward to working together to make it even
> better!
> Hagay
>
> [0] https://github.com/apache/incubator-mxnet/pull/14586
> [1]
>
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/MXNET/%5BDRAFT+PROPOSAL%5D+Apache+MXNet+%28incubating%29+1.4.1+Release+Plan+and+Status
>