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New plans for Jenkins
Change of Course
If you believe what Kohsuke Kawaguchi, inventor of the open source automation server Jenkins [1], is saying, open source continuous integration software is stuck in a "local optimum." Although traditional users like Jenkins, it can't attract new users. Meanwhile, new competition is growing on Jenkins' stomping ground [2].
The continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) landscape has changed completely in recent years. CI/CD was a new concept when Jenkins first started, but it is a matter of course today, and often a central component of many services. Although Jenkins has written its own success story over the past 10 years, some problems have grown with it and have not been solved.
Users today are looking for more plugins, more workloads, and more availability from Jenkins, pushing the software to its limits. According to Kawaguchi, the software is too complex. The operation of a larger Jenkins instance involves too much overhead, and sometimes daily restarts are necessary. Problems include pipeline execution, processes going haywire, and memory requirements.
Upgrade Pain
Many admins hesitate to update Jenkins and its plugins. Even simply adjusting job settings can sometimes cause undesirable side effects, which draws a picture of test software that itself is not well tested. Moreover, the Jenkins project, instead of moving forward, has developers struggling with compatibility issues.
According to Kawaguchi, Jenkins traditionally follows the Lego principle: Admins pick the parts they need and assemble their solution. This approach is no longer appropriate; more plugins are not a solution. On the contrary, Jenkins has to be far easier to use and ready for use immediately, which would improve support for users and keep the developer community
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