From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on aws-us-west-2-korg-lkml-1.web.codeaurora.org Received: from lists.gnu.org (lists.gnu.org [209.51.188.17]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by smtp.lore.kernel.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id BEA42D47CC3 for ; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:06:02 +0000 (UTC) Received: from localhost ([::1] helo=lists1p.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1vggi9-0005Z7-9Q; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:05:45 -0500 Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:470:142:3::10]) by lists.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1vggi5-0005YM-VR for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:05:41 -0500 Received: from us-smtp-delivery-124.mimecast.com ([170.10.133.124]) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtps (TLS1.2:ECDHE_RSA_AES_256_GCM_SHA384:256) (Exim 4.90_1) (envelope-from ) id 1vggi4-0002lY-4i for qemu-devel@nongnu.org; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:05:41 -0500 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=redhat.com; s=mimecast20190719; t=1768557939; h=from:from:reply-to:reply-to:subject:subject:date:date: message-id:message-id:to:to:cc:cc:mime-version:mime-version: content-type:content-type: content-transfer-encoding:content-transfer-encoding: in-reply-to:in-reply-to:references:references; bh=AcpNYgr3DDa5Mnlz9gSpNx7RjeitHhlFTV+1GjLz4ug=; b=HIX9K/ev/p8aI59ZWCHczOu8FAldKoaI4A6q/mwE8jtbKyJ253RItcDUYvZ5UWpesCgFle 2O3yUE1ggfjtc4WKaeudwoIukfzchgV3xxrmTjuq8ugJpau5BZ9HfP75CT/NgHmAKsLor1 mHDWIv3dUAj/FZz3qMf9p4mKW73FO2E= Received: from mx-prod-mc-01.mail-002.prod.us-west-2.aws.redhat.com (ec2-54-186-198-63.us-west-2.compute.amazonaws.com [54.186.198.63]) by relay.mimecast.com with ESMTP with STARTTLS (version=TLSv1.3, cipher=TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384) id us-mta-390-HieWMGTROT-n6R8LH19WJQ-1; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:05:37 -0500 X-MC-Unique: HieWMGTROT-n6R8LH19WJQ-1 X-Mimecast-MFC-AGG-ID: HieWMGTROT-n6R8LH19WJQ_1768557936 Received: from mx-prod-int-03.mail-002.prod.us-west-2.aws.redhat.com (mx-prod-int-03.mail-002.prod.us-west-2.aws.redhat.com [10.30.177.12]) (using TLSv1.3 with cipher TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384 (256/256 bits) key-exchange X25519 server-signature RSA-PSS (2048 bits) server-digest SHA256) (No client certificate requested) by mx-prod-mc-01.mail-002.prod.us-west-2.aws.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 1963D1954B17; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:05:36 +0000 (UTC) Received: from redhat.com (unknown [10.42.28.135]) by mx-prod-int-03.mail-002.prod.us-west-2.aws.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 30AB219560A7; Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:05:32 +0000 (UTC) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:05:29 +0000 From: Daniel =?utf-8?B?UC4gQmVycmFuZ8Op?= To: BALATON Zoltan Cc: qemu-devel@nongnu.org, Philippe =?utf-8?Q?Mathieu-Daud=C3=A9?= , Peter Maydell , Stefan Hajnoczi , Markus Armbruster , Thomas Huth , Richard Henderson , Paolo Bonzini Subject: Re: [PATCH] docs/about: propose OS platform/arch support tiers Message-ID: References: <20260115180123.848640-1-berrange@redhat.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit In-Reply-To: User-Agent: Mutt/2.2.14 (2025-02-20) X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 3.0 on 10.30.177.12 Received-SPF: pass client-ip=170.10.133.124; envelope-from=berrange@redhat.com; helo=us-smtp-delivery-124.mimecast.com X-Spam_score_int: -20 X-Spam_score: -2.1 X-Spam_bar: -- X-Spam_report: (-2.1 / 5.0 requ) BAYES_00=-1.9, DKIMWL_WL_HIGH=-0.001, DKIM_SIGNED=0.1, DKIM_VALID=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_AU=-0.1, DKIM_VALID_EF=-0.1, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE=-0.0001, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H3=0.001, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL=0.001, RCVD_IN_VALIDITY_RPBL_BLOCKED=0.001, RCVD_IN_VALIDITY_SAFE_BLOCKED=0.001, SPF_HELO_PASS=-0.001, SPF_PASS=-0.001 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no X-Spam_action: no action X-BeenThere: qemu-devel@nongnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: qemu development List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Reply-To: Daniel =?utf-8?B?UC4gQmVycmFuZ8Op?= Errors-To: qemu-devel-bounces+qemu-devel=archiver.kernel.org@nongnu.org Sender: qemu-devel-bounces+qemu-devel=archiver.kernel.org@nongnu.org On Thu, Jan 15, 2026 at 09:39:13PM +0100, BALATON Zoltan wrote: > On Thu, 15 Jan 2026, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote: > > Informally we have approximately three groups of platforms > > > > * Tier 1: fully built and fully tested by CI. Must always be > > kept working & regressions fixed immediately > > > > * Tier 2: fully built and partially tested by CI. Should > > always be kept working & regressions fixed quickly > > > > * Tier 3: code exists but is not built or tested by CI. > > Should not be intentionally broken but not > > guaranteed to work at any time. Downstream must > > manually test, report & fix bugs. > > > > Anything else is "unclassified" and any historical code > > remnants may be removed. > > > > It is somewhat tricky to define unambiguous rules for each tier, > > but this doc takes a stab at it. We don't need to cover every > > eventuality. If we get the core points of view across, then it > > at least sets the direction for maintainers/contributors/users. > > Other aspects can be inferred with greater accuracy than today. > > > > Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé > > --- > > > > This came out of the discussion about recent unnoticed breakage > > in NetBSD builds and what maintainers are expected todo about > > it (if anything) > > > > https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2026-01/msg02543.html > > > > docs/about/build-platforms.rst | 152 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > 1 file changed, 152 insertions(+) > > > > diff --git a/docs/about/build-platforms.rst b/docs/about/build-platforms.rst > > index e95784cdb5..950e164c02 100644 > > --- a/docs/about/build-platforms.rst > > +++ b/docs/about/build-platforms.rst > > +Tier 3 > > +~~~~~~ > > + > > +These platforms have theoretical support in the code, but have > > +little, or no, automated build and test coverage. Downstream > > +consumers (users or distributors) who care about these platforms > > +are requested to perform manual testing, report bugs and provide > > +patches. > > + > > + * Builds and tests may be broken at any time in Git HEAD and > > + releases > > + > > + * Builds are not integrated into CI > > + > > + * Tests are not integrated into CI > > + > > + * Merging code is not gated > > + > > +This covers: > > + > > + * NetBSD > > + * OpenBSD > > + * macOS (except aarch64) > > + * FreeBSD (except x86_64) > > + * Windows (except x86_64) > > + * Solaris > > + > > +Responsibilities: > > + > > + * Contributors MAY test patches on Tier 3 platforms manually > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY request contributors to fix problems > > + on Tier 3 platforms > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY test patches on Tier 3 platforms manually > > + > > + * Maintainers SHOULD NOT accept patches that remove code > > + targetting Tier 3 platforms even if currently broken > > If an OS stops supporting a platform in new versions then due to the policy > of supporting only the last two OS versions in QEMU may lead to breaking > this. Maybe it tries to say that Tier 3 is intended to be fixed but no > guarantees on when? It is also clarified below so maybe this clause is not > needed or need to be reworded? The policy on only supporting the most recent 2 releases of an OS applies universally regardless of the Tier levels. I should state that explicitly in this new doc to make that clear. IOW, maintainers are free to remove code that is only relevant to OS versions /older/ than 2 releases whether that code is broken or not. > > > + * Downstream vendors SHOULD test RC releases on Tier 3 platforms > > + and provide bug reports and patches to address problems > > + > > +Note: if a Tier 3 platform is found to be significantly broken, > > +no patches are contributed for a prolonged period, and there is > > +no sign of downstream usage, it is liable to be moved to > > +"Unclassified" and thus be subject to removal. > > + > > + > > +Unclassified > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +These platforms are not intended to be supported in the code > > +and outside the scope of any support tiers. > > + > > + * Code supporting these platforms can removed at any time > > can be removed > > > + * Bugs reports related to these platforms will generally > > + be ignored > > + > > +This covers: > > + > > + * All 32-bit architectures on any OS > > + * Any OS not listed above > > + > > +Responsibilities: > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY decline patches that add code targetting > > + unclassified platforms > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY accept patches that remove code targetting > > + unclassified platforms With regards, Daniel -- |: https://berrange.com -o- https://www.flickr.com/photos/dberrange :| |: https://libvirt.org -o- https://fstop138.berrange.com :| |: https://entangle-photo.org -o- https://www.instagram.com/dberrange :|