FeatureFreeze

Differences between revisions 1 and 10 (spanning 9 versions)
Revision 1 as of 2005-05-28 20:26:29
Size: 379
Editor: adsl-213-190-44-43
Comment: imported from the old wiki
Revision 10 as of 2009-02-17 19:24:23
Size: 1656
Editor: minbar
Comment: revert comment about jaunty feature freeze which is not at all the position of the release team
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= FeatureFreeze = At this point we stop introducing new features, packages, and APIs, and concentrate on fixing bugs in the development release.
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= Feature Freeze = Exceptions have to be approved by the release management team. They should be granted if the new package or feature
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The point at which we cease creating and modifying internal features and packages. This means we're pretty much locked down for '''bugfixes only'''.  * contributes to high-priority ''Releasename''Feature''''''Goals,
 * is a reasonable fix for an important bug,
 * other exceptional circumstances, as judged by the release managers.
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Exceptions requiring confirmation: See FreezeExceptionProcess for details.
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 * Packages in or relating to high-priority ''Releasename''Feature''''''Goals
 * Major/minor fixes, within reason
 * Exceptional circumstances
Notes about particular aspects of features:

 * Upstream microreleases of applications are usually fine after this point if they only fix bugs. This should be verified by reading the detailled upstream changelog and (cursory) reading the diff between the version in the Ubuntu development release and the new upstream version. If in doubt, ask the release team for advice.

 * ABI/API compatibility is a special case of a feature: If a library breaks backward compatibility (i. e. changes existing API/ABI and introduces a new [[http://www.netfort.gr.jp/~dancer/column/libpkg-guide/libpkg-guide.html#sonameapiabi|SONAME]]), then this always needs approval from the release team, since all reverse dependencies need to be adjusted and rebuilt.

 * New packages need to be checked by archive administrators before they find their way into the archive. This process can take several days up to a few weeks. For the purpose of the Feature``Freeze, the upload date matters, i. e. all packages which are in the [[http://people.ubuntu.com/~ubuntu-archive/queue/hardy/new/|NEW queue]] by that time will be processed without the need for an exception.

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CategoryProcess

At this point we stop introducing new features, packages, and APIs, and concentrate on fixing bugs in the development release.

Exceptions have to be approved by the release management team. They should be granted if the new package or feature

  • contributes to high-priority ReleasenameFeatureGoals,

  • is a reasonable fix for an important bug,
  • other exceptional circumstances, as judged by the release managers.

See FreezeExceptionProcess for details.

Notes about particular aspects of features:

  • Upstream microreleases of applications are usually fine after this point if they only fix bugs. This should be verified by reading the detailled upstream changelog and (cursory) reading the diff between the version in the Ubuntu development release and the new upstream version. If in doubt, ask the release team for advice.
  • ABI/API compatibility is a special case of a feature: If a library breaks backward compatibility (i. e. changes existing API/ABI and introduces a new SONAME), then this always needs approval from the release team, since all reverse dependencies need to be adjusted and rebuilt.

  • New packages need to be checked by archive administrators before they find their way into the archive. This process can take several days up to a few weeks. For the purpose of the FeatureFreeze, the upload date matters, i. e. all packages which are in the NEW queue by that time will be processed without the need for an exception.


CategoryProcess

FeatureFreeze (last edited 2025-09-12 10:58:13 by sally-makin)