Re: [RFC] linux-next: replace the DRM trees with a single drm-for-linux-next

[Rodrigo Vivi <rodrigo.vivi@intel.com>]

On Wed, Nov 04, 2026 at 12:08:08PM +0100, Danilo Krummrich wrote:
> On Wed Nov 4, 2026 at 4:29 AM CET, Dave Airlie wrote:
> > Yes this is the thing I like, while I like maintainers having freedom,
> > relying on them to do something manually every release at the same
> > time doesn't seem to scale so well.
> 
> I think maintainers have to do something manually every release in both cases.
> 
> The difference is between "everyone has to do it at the exact cutoff day" vs.
> "everyone has to fast-forward their -next-fixes branch" (which to be fair has to
> be done in both cases).
> 
> For the former, a tree that closes before the global cutoff can still leak
> following-cycle work into linux-next.

On that I already agreed that we should move the blackout from -rc6 to -rc5.
So, the only thing that every maintainer needs to ensure is to prepare,
at least, one PR after -rc5 and we won't have absolutely any leak.

And I believe we are all already doing this anyway, so again, there won't be any
special thing that maintainers would need to do to ensure correctness.

> 
> I.e. the global switch is automatic, but doesn't ensure correctness by itself.
> In order to be correct, maintainers have to do something manually.
> 
> So eventually it comes down to whether doing the correct thing derives from an
> explicit operation (i.e. fast-forward -next-fixes, or just add the --final
> helper), or an implicit commitment to push and tag branches on a specific day.
> 
> I think it is better to derive the tree status from its actual state rather than
> a promise about that state at a specified cutoff day.
> 
> > If we can't have the tool enforce what we send to -next after -rc6
> > then it's going to have gaps.
> 
> I don't think either option can enforce correctness. The difference is that one
> approach relies on a timing promise about the tree state, while the other uses
> the tree state itself to make the decision.