[ovs-dev] [PATCH] release-process.md: Document OVS release process and propose a schedule.

Russell Bryant russell at ovn.org
Wed Jul 20 19:48:08 UTC 2016


On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 12:30 PM, Ben Pfaff <blp at ovn.org> wrote:

> On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 10:00:22AM -0400, Russell Bryant wrote:
> > On Tue, Jul 19, 2016 at 1:58 PM, Ben Pfaff <blp at ovn.org> wrote:
> >
> > > This document has two different kinds of text:
> > >
> > >    - The first sections of the document, "Release Strategy" and
> "Release
> > >      Numbering", describe what we've already been doing for most of the
> > >      history of Open vSwitch.  If there is anything surprising in them,
> > >      then it's because our process has not been transparent enough,
> and not
> > >      because we're making a change.
> > >
> > >    - The final section of the document, "Release Scheduling", is a
> proposal
> > >      for current and future releases.  We have not had a regular
> release
> > >      schedule in the past, but it seems important to have one in the
> > >      future, so this section requires review and feedback from
> everyone in
> > >      the community.
> > I think this is a great step forward.  Thank you!
>
> Thanks for the review.
>
> > One topic that could be added to this document is discussion of how long
> > each release branch is maintained.  LTS is defined in FAQ.md, but it
> could
> > be defined in this document now.  How an LTS branch is chosen, and the
> > maintenance difference between LTS and non-LTS would also be good topics
> to
> > cover.
>
> I forgot that the FAQ talked about releases.  I'm appending an
> incremental that I will fold into this patch.
>
> It is a good idea to describe LTS releases, but I don't have answers for
> the questions you ask.  Here are some thoughts about principles we've
> considered before:
>
>     * We try to avoid making releases that include disruptive internal
>       changes LTS, because they are harder to support.
>
>     * It is good to make LTS releases at least every 2 years or so,
>       because it is useful to distributions and other downstreams, but
>       not much more often than that, because it is more work to maintain
>       multiple upstreams.
>
>     * In the past we have maintained a given LTS until we release the
>       next LTS.  This is probably too vague and may not be long enough
>       in any case.
>
> Anyone want to suggest what we should do?
>

I don't think needs to be very formal.  It may not be all the useful to try
to lay out a 5-year release schedule based on LTS planning, as it seems
incredibly likely that things will change.  Being specific about the
6-month cadence is enough commitment for me.  :-)

Here's some proposed text ...

At most two release branches are maintained at any given time: the latest
release and the latest release designed as LTS.  An LTS release is one that
the OVS project has designated as being maintained for a longer period of
time.  Currently, an LTS release is maintained until the next LTS is
chosen.  There is not currently a strict guideline on how often a new LTS
release is chosen, but so far it has been about every 2 years.  That could
change based on the current state of OVS development.  For example, we do
not want to designate a new release as LTS that includes disruptive
internal changes, as that may make it harder to support for a longer period
of time.  Discussion about choosing the next LTS release occurs on the OVS
development mailing list.


> > Acked-by: Russell Bryant <russell at ovn.org>
>
> Thanks.  I'm going to let the discussion develop for a while before I
> push anything, because I want to see a semblance of consensus on the
> schedule.
>

Of course.  I was just registering my formal +1 in the meantime.


> --8<--------------------------cut here-------------------------->8--
>
> diff --git a/FAQ.md b/FAQ.md
> index 063bd70..290e66c 100644
> --- a/FAQ.md
> +++ b/FAQ.md
> @@ -125,13 +125,16 @@ Releases
>  ### Q: What does it mean for an Open vSwitch release to be LTS (long-term
> support)?
>
>  A: All official releases have been through a comprehensive testing
> -   process and are suitable for production use.  Planned releases will
> -   occur several times a year.  If a significant bug is identified in an
> +   process and are suitable for production use.  Planned releases
> +   occur twice a year.  If a significant bug is identified in an
>     LTS release, we will provide an updated release that includes the
>     fix.  Releases that are not LTS may not be fixed and may just be
>     supplanted by the next major release.  The current LTS release is
>     2.3.x.
>
> +   For more information on the Open vSwitch release process, please
> +   see [release-process.md].
> +
>  ### Q: What Linux kernel versions does each Open vSwitch release work
> with?
>
>  A: The following table lists the Linux kernel versions against which the
> @@ -2140,3 +2143,4 @@ http://openvswitch.org/
>  [OPENFLOW-1.1+.md]:OPENFLOW-1.1+.md
>  [INSTALL.DPDK.md]:INSTALL.DPDK.md
>  [Tutorial.md]:tutorial/Tutorial.md
> +[release-process.md]:Documentation/release-process.md
>



-- 
Russell Bryant



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