[PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Billy Wilson]

A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
understand the stable update release cycle.

Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
---
 Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
 5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
 
 	==============  ===============================
-	September 15 	5.2 stable release
+	July 7		5.2 stable release
 	July 14		5.2.1
 	July 21		5.2.2
 	July 26		5.2.3
-- 
2.28.0

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Randy Dunlap]

On 8/6/20 4:17 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
> released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
> understand the stable update release cycle.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
> ---
>  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
> --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
>  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
>  
>  	==============  ===============================
> -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
> +	July 7		5.2 stable release
>  	July 14		5.2.1
>  	July 21		5.2.2
>  	July 26		5.2.3

Hi,
For clarification, what 5.2 kernel do you find that was released on
July 7, 2019?  IOW, what you consider the 5.2 stable release of that date?
or where did you get that date?

thanks.

-- 
~Randy

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Billy Wilson]

On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 04:46:13PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
> On 8/6/20 4:17 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> > A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
> > released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
> > understand the stable update release cycle.
> > 
> > Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
> > ---
> >  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
> >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> > 
> > diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> > index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
> > --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> > +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> > @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
> >  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
> >  
> >  	==============  ===============================
> > -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
> > +	July 7		5.2 stable release
> >  	July 14		5.2.1
> >  	July 21		5.2.2
> >  	July 26		5.2.3
> 
> Hi,
> For clarification, what 5.2 kernel do you find that was released on
> July 7, 2019?  IOW, what you consider the 5.2 stable release of that date?
> or where did you get that date?
> 
> thanks.
> 
> -- 
> ~Randy
> 

I found the date of July 7 at https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.2 . I
just double checked that date against the git tag for v5.2 (commit
0ecfebd2b524) and it looks like it matches.

September 15, meanwhile, is the 5.3 stable release date. I mainly
noticed this because the table uses the 5.2 release dates to illustrate
the stable update release cycle. I was scratching my head for a few
minutes trying to figure out why 5.2 had a date of September 15 and
5.2.1 had a date of July 14, until I realized it was a mistake.

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Randy Dunlap]

On 8/6/20 5:08 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 04:46:13PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> On 8/6/20 4:17 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
>>> A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
>>> released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
>>> understand the stable update release cycle.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
>>> ---
>>>  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
>>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>>
>>> diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>> index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
>>> --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>> +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>> @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
>>>  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
>>>  
>>>  	==============  ===============================
>>> -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
>>> +	July 7		5.2 stable release
>>>  	July 14		5.2.1
>>>  	July 21		5.2.2
>>>  	July 26		5.2.3
>>
>> Hi,
>> For clarification, what 5.2 kernel do you find that was released on
>> July 7, 2019?  IOW, what you consider the 5.2 stable release of that date?
>> or where did you get that date?
>>
>> thanks.
>>
>> -- 
>> ~Randy
>>
> 
> I found the date of July 7 at https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.2 . I
> just double checked that date against the git tag for v5.2 (commit
> 0ecfebd2b524) and it looks like it matches.

OK, that part makes sense (to me).

> September 15, meanwhile, is the 5.3 stable release date. I mainly
> noticed this because the table uses the 5.2 release dates to illustrate
> the stable update release cycle. I was scratching my head for a few
> minutes trying to figure out why 5.2 had a date of September 15 and
> 5.2.1 had a date of July 14, until I realized it was a mistake.

I had 2 questions. One was why not July 8 instead of July 7,
but you answered that part satisfactorily (above).  (July 8 is when
the tarball and .sign files are dated.)

The other question is do we call v5.2 stable?  Or should we begin
stable at v5.2.1?


thanks.
-- 
~Randy

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Billy Wilson]

On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 05:41:55PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
> On 8/6/20 5:08 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> > On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 04:46:13PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
> >> On 8/6/20 4:17 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> >>> A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
> >>> released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
> >>> understand the stable update release cycle.
> >>>
> >>> Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
> >>> ---
> >>>  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
> >>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >>>
> >>> diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> >>> index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
> >>> --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> >>> +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> >>> @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
> >>>  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
> >>>  
> >>>  	==============  ===============================
> >>> -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
> >>> +	July 7		5.2 stable release
> >>>  	July 14		5.2.1
> >>>  	July 21		5.2.2
> >>>  	July 26		5.2.3
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >> For clarification, what 5.2 kernel do you find that was released on
> >> July 7, 2019?  IOW, what you consider the 5.2 stable release of that date?
> >> or where did you get that date?
> >>
> >> thanks.
> >>
> >> -- 
> >> ~Randy
> >>
> > 
> > I found the date of July 7 at https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.2 . I
> > just double checked that date against the git tag for v5.2 (commit
> > 0ecfebd2b524) and it looks like it matches.
> 
> OK, that part makes sense (to me).
> 
> > September 15, meanwhile, is the 5.3 stable release date. I mainly
> > noticed this because the table uses the 5.2 release dates to illustrate
> > the stable update release cycle. I was scratching my head for a few
> > minutes trying to figure out why 5.2 had a date of September 15 and
> > 5.2.1 had a date of July 14, until I realized it was a mistake.
> 
> I had 2 questions. One was why not July 8 instead of July 7,
> but you answered that part satisfactorily (above).  (July 8 is when
> the tarball and .sign files are dated.)
> 
> The other question is do we call v5.2 stable?  Or should we begin
> stable at v5.2.1?
> 
> 
> thanks.
> -- 
> ~Randy
> 

That's a good question. This same page describes the cycle of -rc
kernels as, "a normal series will get up to somewhere between -rc6 and
-rc9 before the kernel is considered to be sufficiently stable and the
final release is made."

In that context, I had read "stable" as in sufficiently stable, not as
"released by the stable team."

The author also did well at introducing the stable tree shortly after
that. "Once a stable release is made, its ongoing maintenance is passed
off to the 'stable team.'"

Personally, I think those clarifications make it okay to call v5.2
stable in this particular table. But there could be nuances with that
choice that I am missing.

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Randy Dunlap]

On 8/6/20 8:51 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 05:41:55PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> On 8/6/20 5:08 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
>>> On Thu, Aug 06, 2020 at 04:46:13PM -0700, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>>>> On 8/6/20 4:17 PM, Billy Wilson wrote:
>>>>> A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
>>>>> released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
>>>>> understand the stable update release cycle.
>>>>>
>>>>> Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
>>>>> ---
>>>>>  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
>>>>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>>>>
>>>>> diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>>>> index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
>>>>> --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>>>> +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
>>>>> @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
>>>>>  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
>>>>>  
>>>>>  	==============  ===============================
>>>>> -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
>>>>> +	July 7		5.2 stable release
>>>>>  	July 14		5.2.1
>>>>>  	July 21		5.2.2
>>>>>  	July 26		5.2.3
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>> For clarification, what 5.2 kernel do you find that was released on
>>>> July 7, 2019?  IOW, what you consider the 5.2 stable release of that date?
>>>> or where did you get that date?
>>>>
>>>> thanks.
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> ~Randy
>>>>
>>>
>>> I found the date of July 7 at https://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_5.2 . I
>>> just double checked that date against the git tag for v5.2 (commit
>>> 0ecfebd2b524) and it looks like it matches.
>>
>> OK, that part makes sense (to me).
>>
>>> September 15, meanwhile, is the 5.3 stable release date. I mainly
>>> noticed this because the table uses the 5.2 release dates to illustrate
>>> the stable update release cycle. I was scratching my head for a few
>>> minutes trying to figure out why 5.2 had a date of September 15 and
>>> 5.2.1 had a date of July 14, until I realized it was a mistake.
>>
>> I had 2 questions. One was why not July 8 instead of July 7,
>> but you answered that part satisfactorily (above).  (July 8 is when
>> the tarball and .sign files are dated.)
>>
>> The other question is do we call v5.2 stable?  Or should we begin
>> stable at v5.2.1?
>>
>>
>> thanks.
>> -- 
>> ~Randy
>>
> 
> That's a good question. This same page describes the cycle of -rc
> kernels as, "a normal series will get up to somewhere between -rc6 and
> -rc9 before the kernel is considered to be sufficiently stable and the
> final release is made."
> 
> In that context, I had read "stable" as in sufficiently stable, not as
> "released by the stable team."
> 
> The author also did well at introducing the stable tree shortly after
> that. "Once a stable release is made, its ongoing maintenance is passed
> off to the 'stable team.'"
> 
> Personally, I think those clarifications make it okay to call v5.2
> stable in this particular table. But there could be nuances with that
> choice that I am missing.

OK, so if a kernel release is not an -rc, then it's stable.
I guess I'm OK with that.

Thanks for your explanations.

-- 
~Randy

Re: [PATCH] docs: Correct the release date of 5.2 stable

[Jonathan Corbet]

On Thu,  6 Aug 2020 17:17:54 -0600
Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu> wrote:

> A table lists the 5.2 stable release date as September 15, but it was
> released on July 7. This may confuse a reader who is trying to
> understand the stable update release cycle.
> 
> Signed-off-by: Billy Wilson <billy_wilson@byu.edu>
> ---
>  Documentation/process/2.Process.rst | 2 +-
>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> 
> diff --git a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> index 3588f48841eb..4ae1e0f600c1 100644
> --- a/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/process/2.Process.rst
> @@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ than one development cycle past their initial release. So, for example, the
>  5.2 kernel's history looked like this (all dates in 2019):
>  
>  	==============  ===============================
> -	September 15 	5.2 stable release
> +	July 7		5.2 stable release
>  	July 14		5.2.1

Applied, thanks.

jon