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| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/howto/maintain-git.txt | 52 |
1 files changed, 42 insertions, 10 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/howto/maintain-git.txt b/Documentation/howto/maintain-git.txt index 013014bbef..7219faf09f 100644 --- a/Documentation/howto/maintain-git.txt +++ b/Documentation/howto/maintain-git.txt @@ -37,22 +37,20 @@ The Policy The policy on Integration is informally mentioned in "A Note from the maintainer" message, which is periodically posted to -this mailing list after each feature release is made. +the mailing list after each feature release is made: - Feature releases are numbered as vX.Y.0 and are meant to contain bugfixes and enhancements in any area, including functionality, performance and usability, without regression. - - One release cycle for a feature release is expected to last for - eight to ten weeks. - - - Maintenance releases are numbered as vX.Y.Z and are meant + - Maintenance releases are numbered as vX.Y.Z (0 < Z) and are meant to contain only bugfixes for the corresponding vX.Y.0 feature release and earlier maintenance releases vX.Y.W (W < Z). - - 'master' branch is used to prepare for the next feature + - The 'master' branch is used to prepare for the next feature release. In other words, at some point, the tip of 'master' - branch is tagged with vX.Y.0. + branch is tagged as vX.(Y+1).0, when vX.Y.0 is the latest + feature release. - 'maint' branch is used to prepare for the next maintenance release. After the feature release vX.Y.0 is made, the tip @@ -63,11 +61,13 @@ this mailing list after each feature release is made. - 'next' branch is used to publish changes (both enhancements and fixes) that (1) have worthwhile goal, (2) are in a fairly good shape suitable for everyday use, (3) but have not yet - demonstrated to be regression free. New changes are tested - in 'next' before merged to 'master'. + demonstrated to be regression free. Reviews from contributors on + the mailing list help to make the determination. After a topic + is merged to 'next', it is tested for at least 7 calendar days + before getting merged to 'master'. - 'seen' branch is used to publish other proposed changes that do - not yet pass the criteria set for 'next'. + not yet pass the criteria set for 'next' (see above). - The tips of 'master' and 'maint' branches will not be rewound to allow people to build their own customization on top of them. @@ -86,6 +86,38 @@ this mailing list after each feature release is made. users are encouraged to test it so that regressions and bugs are found before new topics are merged to 'master'. + - When a problem is found in a topic in 'next', the topic is marked + not to be merged to 'master'. Follow-up patches are discussed on + the mailing list and applied to the topic after being reviewed and + then the topic is merged (again) to 'next'. After going through + the usual testing in 'next', the entire (fixed) topic is merged + to 'master'. + + - One release cycle for a feature release is expected to last for + eight to ten weeks. A few "release candidate" releases are + expected to be tagged about a week apart before the final + release, and a "preview" release is tagged about a week before + the first release candidate gets tagged. + + - After the preview release is tagged, topics that were well + reviewed may be merged to 'master' before spending the usual 7 + calendar days in 'next', with the expectation that any bugs in + them can be caught and fixed in the release candidates before + the final release. + + - After the first release candidate is tagged, the contributors are + strongly encouraged to focus on finding and fixing new regressions + introduced during the cycle, over addressing old bugs and any new + features. Topics stop getting merged down from 'next' to 'master', + and new topics stop getting merged to 'next'. Unless they are fixes + to new regressions in the cycle, that is. + + - Soon after a feature release is made, the tip of 'maint' gets + fast-forwarded to point at the release. Topics that have been + kept in 'next' are merged down to 'master' and a new development + cycle starts. + + Note that before v1.9.0 release, the version numbers used to be structured slightly differently. vX.Y.Z were feature releases while vX.Y.Z.W were maintenance releases for vX.Y.Z. |