[RFCv2 2/2] doc: Add doc/develop/release_cycle.rst

[Tom Rini]

On Tue, Jul 12, 2022 at 11:48:49AM -0400, Sean Anderson wrote:
> Hi Tom,
> 
> On 7/12/22 11:33 AM, Tom Rini wrote:
> > Migrate the RelaseCycle wiki page to Sphinx.  In terms of visible
> > changes, we stop having a dynamic countdown to when the release is.  And
> > we drop the year-based statistics, that were not being kept up to date.
> > For the moment, we only link to statistics for v2022.07 but will add
> > back the historical data in a subsequent patch.
> > 
> > Cc: Heinrich Schuchardt <xypron.glpk at gmx.de>
> > Signed-off-by: Tom Rini <trini at konsulko.com>
> > ---
> > Changes in v2:
> > - New patch.  Note that I'm not including the v1.3.0 to v2022.04 stats
> >   here as while I can generate them, I want to make sure we're happy
> >   with how v2022.07 ones look as there is some manual effort involved.
> >   It's a reasonable amount of manual effort however for a single release.
> > ---
> >  doc/develop/index.rst         |  1 +
> >  doc/develop/release_cycle.rst | 95 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> >  2 files changed, 96 insertions(+)
> >  create mode 100644 doc/develop/release_cycle.rst
> > 
> > diff --git a/doc/develop/index.rst b/doc/develop/index.rst
> > index eab00a55382a..73741ceb6a2f 100644
> > --- a/doc/develop/index.rst
> > +++ b/doc/develop/index.rst
> > @@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ General
> >     codingstyle
> >     designprinciples
> >     process
> > +   release_cycle
> >  
> >  Implementation
> >  --------------
> > diff --git a/doc/develop/release_cycle.rst b/doc/develop/release_cycle.rst
> > new file mode 100644
> > index 000000000000..dbaaa7210c4e
> > --- /dev/null
> > +++ b/doc/develop/release_cycle.rst
> > @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
> > +Release Cycle
> > +=============
> > +
> > +The U-Boot projects attempts to maintain a fixed, predictable Release
> > +Cycle as follows:
> > +
> > +* We will have U-Boot releases at a fixed release interval of (approximately)
> > +  every 3 months.
> > +
> > +* Under normal conditions the release date will be a Monday around mid-month.
> 
> I thought you aimed for the first Monday? This is what is stated below as well.

True.  And this is copy/paste (well, cp and reformat) from the wiki but
I think worth correcting inline with the conversion rather than
stand-alone.

> 
> > +* Immediately following each release, there will be a "merge window" of
> > +  normally 21 days, i. e. if the release was on a Monday, then the merge window
> > +  will close on the Monday in the 3rd week after the release.
> > +
> > +  While this merge window is open, new features can be added to the U-Boot
> > +  source tree. Linus Torvalds explains `here
> > +  <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/729504/focus=729507>`_ and `there
> > +  <http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.linux.kernel/729504/focus=729508>`_ what the
> > +  term "merge window" is supposed to mean.
> 
> I think a link to the process page would be better here.

It's been a long enough time now that yes, I think that's true.

> > +* After the merge window closes, no new features may be added to allow for a
> > +  release candidate phase which is intended to fix bugs and regressions.
> > +
> > +*Note:* While we try to adhere to the release schedule, we will
> > +not hesitate and take the liberty to delay a release if there are
> > +good reasons, for example if there are known bugs or other technical
> > +reasons.  The code will be released when it is considered ready
> > +without caring too much about the announced deadline.
> > +
> > +*Note 2:* Even though we follow Linux ways in may respects,
> 
> nit: many

Fixed.

> > +there are differences in the actual procedures,
> > +which are documented in the :doc:`process`.
> > +
> > +Version Numbers
> > +---------------
> > +
> > +Starting with the release in October 2008, the names of the releases were
> > +changed from numerical release numbers without deeper meaning into a time stamp
> > +based numbering.  Regular releases are now identified by names consisting of
> > +the calendar year and month of the release date.  Additional fields (if
> > +present) indicate release candidates or bug fix releases in "stable"
> > +maintenance trees.
> > +
> > +Examples::
> > +
> > +  U-Boot v2009.11	- Release November 2009
> > +  U-Boot v2009.11.1	- Release 1 in version November 2009 stable tree
> 
> From what I can tell, point releases are very unusual, except for bugs which
> break booting (notably excluding security fixes). I believe the lack of point
> releases is due to lack of need (since most vendors have their own branch) and
> lack of bandwidth. A note here about this would be nice.

I'll add a note about point releases being infrequent.

> > +  U-Boot v2010.09-rc1   - Release candidate 1 for September 2010 release
> > +
> > +Current Status
> > +--------------
> > +
> > +* U-Boot v2022.07 was released on Mon 11 July 2022.
> > +
> > +* The Merge Window for the next release (v2022.10) is **open** until -rc1
> > +  release on Mon 25 July 2022.
> > +
> > +* Release "v2022.10" is scheduled for 03 Oct 2022.
> > +
> > +Future Releases
> > +---------------
> > +
> > +.. * U-Boot v2022.10-rc1 was released on Mon 25 July 2022.
> > +
> > +.. * U-Boot v2022.10-rc2 was released on Mon 08 August 2022.
> > +
> > +.. * U-Boot v2022.10-rc3 was released on Mon 22 August 2022.
> > +
> > +.. * U-Boot v2022.10-rc4 was released on Mon 05 September 2022.
> > +
> > +.. * U-Boot v2022.10-rc5 was released on Mon 19 September 2022.
> 
> Will be? Maybe it's better to use a past release for this if you want to use
> concrete dates.

Note that '.. ' at the start of the line is a comment.  I'm turning the
commented out wiki markup in to commented out rST, and am aiming to make
"edit the release cycle page" part of my release flow.  The "every 2
weeks we do an RC" is something I really do put in my calendar to make
sure to do.  The wiki page doesn't get this section updated every time
since I have to dig out the tab, login, etc.  But edit two files,
commit, run release script is easier.

-- 
Tom
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