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

Tue Jul 12 18:14:13 CEST 2022

On 7/12/22 17:48, 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.
>
>> +* 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.
>
>> +* 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
>
>> +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.
>
>> +  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.

%s/was/will be/g

July 11th + 3 weeks = Aug 1st.

>> +
>> +.. * 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.
>
>> +Please note that the following dates are for information only and without
>> +responsibility:

Please note that the following dates are planned only and may be
deviated from as needed.

This sentence should be above the first date that is in the future.

>> +
>> +.. Release date:  Generally first Monday of the month
>> +.. End of MW = Release Date + 21 d = 3rd Monday of the month

This rule should be in a process section.

Best regards

Heinrich

>> +
>> +* "v2022.10": end of MW = Mon, Jul 25, 2022; release = Mon, Oct 03, 2022
>> +
>> +* "v2023.01": end of MW = Mon, Oct 24, 2022; release = Mon, Jan 09, 2023
>> +
>> +* "v2023.04": end of MW = Mon, Jan 30, 2022; release = Mon, Apr 03, 2023
>> +
>> +* "v2023.07": end of MW = Mon, Apr 24, 2023; release = Mon, Jul 03, 2023
>> +
>> +Previous Releases
>> +-----------------
>> +
>> +Note: these statistics are generated by our fork of `gitdm
>> +<https://source.denx.de/u-boot/gitdm>`_, which was originally created by
>> +Jonathan Corbet.
>> +
>> +* :doc:`statistics/u-boot-stats-v2022.07` which was released on 11 July 2022.
>>
>
> --Sean