From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=E1bor_Stefanik?= Subject: Re: [RFC] Documentation: add documentation for rc-series and merge window Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 22:40:08 +0200 Message-ID: <69e28c910906151340s44cafc35rdca24530fbae755@mail.gmail.com> References: <1245096771-3966-1-git-send-email-lrodriguez@atheros.com> <1245097883.10970.5.camel@mj> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Cc: "Luis R. Rodriguez" , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, torvalds@linux-foundation.org, akpm@linux-foundation.org, alan@lxorguk.ukuu.org.uk, greg@kroah.com, linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org, netdev@vger.kernel.org, tshibata@ab.jp.nec.com To: Pavel Roskin Return-path: Received: from mail-bw0-f213.google.com ([209.85.218.213]:50885 "EHLO mail-bw0-f213.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752126AbZFOUql convert rfc822-to-8bit (ORCPT ); Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:46:41 -0400 In-Reply-To: <1245097883.10970.5.camel@mj> Sender: netdev-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 10:31 PM, Pavel Roskin wrote: > On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 16:12 -0400, Luis R. Rodriguez wrote: >> >> +Stable kernel releases >> +---------------------- >> + >> +Stable kernels are released when they are ready. This means there i= s no >> +strict guidelines for sticking to specific dates for a kernel relea= se. > > there are no strict guidelines > >> +After a maintainer has sent his pull request to Linus during the me= rge >> +window no further new development will be accepted for that tree an= d >> +as such it marks the closure of development for that subsystem for = that >> +kernel cycle. Developers wishing to target deadlines should simply = work >> +on their development without regards or consideration for inclusion= to >> +a specific kernel release. Once development is done it should simpl= y be >> +posted. If you insist on targetting a kernel release for deadlines = you can > > targeting > >> +try to be aware of the current rc cycle development and how soon it= seems >> +the next stable kernel relase will be made. When Linus notes the la= st rc > > release > >> +cycle released may be the last -- that is a good sign you should al= ready >> +have all your development done and merged in the respective develop= ment >> +tree. If your code is not ready and merged into the respective main= tainers >> +tree prior to the announced last potential rc kernel release chance= s are >> +you missed getting your code in for the next kernel merge window. >> +Excemptions here are new drivers, covered below. > > Exemptions > >> +rc-series rules >> +--------------- >> + >> +Rules on what kind of patches are accepted after the merge window c= loses. >> +These are patches targetted for the kernel rc-series of a kernel pr= ior > > targeted > >> +to its release. >> + >> + - it must fix a reported regression >> + - if must fix a reported security hole >> + - if must fix a reported oops/kernel hang >> + >> +This means any small-non-fix code changes, although they mix fix an= issue, > > might fix > >> +will not be accepted. If the patch in question is for a driver that= has been >> +around for more than a kernel release, then "small fixes" really ca= n't be >> +worth all that much. And "small fixes" may be small and "obvious" t= hey >> +definitely can regress. >> + >> +rc-series new driver excemption rule > > exemption > >> +------------------------------------ >> + >> +The very first release a new driver (or filesystem) is special. New= drivers >> +are accepted during the rc series. Patches for the same driver then= are >> +also accepted uring the same rc series of a kernel as well as fixes= as it > > during > >> +cannot regress as no previous kernels exists with it. >> + >> +Once drivers are upstream for one kernel release (say on 2.6.29) th= e target >> +*goal* after the merge window of the next kernel (respectively this= would be >> +the 2.6.30 rc-series) is to address address regressions. Kernel oop= s/hangs > > s/address address/address/ > >> +and security issues are obviously accepted but the point is these s= hould have >> +also been caught earlier as a general development goal. The rc-seri= es focus >> +should really be to address regressions. >> + >> +Stable kernel rules >> +------------------- >> + >> =A0Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are no= t, into the >> =A0"-stable" tree: > > Sorry, I'm in pedantic mood today. At least you didn't end up making a spelling error in any of your corrections. :-) > > -- > Regards, > Pavel Roskin > -- > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-wirel= ess" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at =A0http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > --=20 Vista: [V]iruses, [I]ntruders, [S]pyware, [T]rojans and [A]dware. :-)