Launch blockers versus known limitations

A launch blocker is a defect or gap that should stop the version from leaving the building. A known limitation is something you are willing to ship, provided it is written where support and users can find it. Mixing the two is how freeze meetings last three hours and still fail to decide.

We ask a blunt question of each open item: if this is still true on Monday, do we pull the version? If the honest answer is no, it is not a blocker. Write it as a limitation, name the audience who will feel it, and say who tells them. If the honest answer is yes, it stays a blocker and the freeze date moves, or the item is actually fixed.

Malaysian store listings add a practical twist. A limitation that exists only in English copy is not a limitation for a Bahasa Malaysia user; it is a surprise. If you will ship with a gap, the gap has to appear in every language you claim to support, or you reduce the language list for this version.

Crash-free session rates get used as a shortcut for this distinction. A rate is not a blocker. A rate plus a halt rule can be part of a conditional ship. Without the rule, people argue about the number instead of about the decision.

Keep a third column for unanswered questions. An unanswered question is not a limitation you have accepted. It is work you failed to finish before the meeting. Either finish it or treat the unknown as a blocker.