[ovs-dev] OVS needs to release new stable versions.

[Ben Pfaff]

On Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 12:18:37PM +0200, Ilya Maximets wrote:
> So, what is the proposed plan:
> 
>   1. We should add missed git tags to 2.11.3 and 2.11.4 releases.
> 
>      Ben could you, please, take care of this? (Alternatively, I could do that,
>      but I'm not sure what with the keys to sign tags and how this key
>      management handled these days since the collapse of web of trust.)

I think that it's probably best to take myself out off the critical path
here.  I started out using signed tags because they were easy for me,
since I already had a key in Debian's web of trust.  But I don't know of
a reason why they need to be signed, or signed by a particular key.  I
think it is perfectly reasonable if you push the tags, signed or
unsigned.

I don't know what you mean by "the collapse of the web of trust".  Did I
miss a memo?

>   3. Prepare patches for OVS stable releases for all branches starting from
>      branch-2.5 and apply them.  Create, sign and push tags.
> 
>      Ben, I know you handled this part last time.  What is the preferred way?
>      Someone else could prepare patches and send for review, I guess.

I think we should designate a newer "long term stable" release now that
OVN has released separately.

That aside, I have never prepared separate patches for OVS stable
releases.  When I apply bug fixes, I backport them as far as necessary.
It would be a burden to figure this out retrospectively, but it's
usually easy at the time of bug fix.

>   4. Update relevant docs outside of openvswitch main repository (web-site,
>      wiki, etc.)
> 
> 
> P.S.: We should, probably, do some periodic checks on released
> branches and make stable releases a bit more frequently.  For example,
> we could make regular stable release every few months in case we have
> fixes on top of the previous release.  I could keep monitoring things
> and ping people, but this might be better to have some plan, I think.

Yes, probably.  At one point Justin and I were definitely the people who
coordinated this, but now if it is left to us then it probably won't get
done, or not done often enough.

I really need some new people to take the leadership role here.