StableReleaseUpdates

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Comment: more drafting
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 1. Proposing the update  1. Proposing
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 2. Preparing the update  2. Preparing
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  Once an update has been discussed and approved in principle, a patch may be prepared for the stable release. The following criteria apply to any packages modified as part of the update:   Once an update has been discussed and approved in principle, a patch should be prepared for the stable release. The following criteria apply to any packages modified as part of the update:
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   * The changelog entry and resulting .changes file must include a reference to the corresponding bug report(s)
   * The version number must be carefully checked in order to avoid clashing with any other version of the package, past, present or future		    * The changelog entry and resulting .changes file must include a reference to the corresponding bug report(s), including the approved proposal
   * The version number(s) must be carefully checked in order to avoid clashing with any other version of the package, past, present or future
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   * XXX more standard checklist items here

  Uploads which do not meet these criteria will be rejected by an archive administrator and not published.

 3. Testing

  Once the update has been uploaded to `-proposed` and built, it can be reviewed and tested by a wider audience. A copy of the complete source package delta (debdiff) should be attached to the bug report for review. XXX uploader, peer, community

 4. Releasing

  XXX re-upload to -updates with no changes other than changelog, final signoff

 5. Following up

  XXX monitor Malone for regressions, regression response procedure

Once an Ubuntu release has been completed and published, updates for it are only released under certain circumstances, and must follow a special procedure.

Why

In contrast to pre-release versions, official releases of Ubuntu are subject to much wider use, and by a different demographic of user. During development, changes to the distribution primarily affect developers, early adopters and other advanced users, all of whom have elected to use pre-release software at their own risk.

Users of the official release, in contrast, expect a high degree of stability. They use their Ubuntu system for their day-to-day work, and problems they experience with it can be extremely disruptive. Many of them are less experienced with Ubuntu and with Linux, and expect a reliable system which does not require their intervention.

Stable release updates are automatically recommended to a very large number of users, and so it is critically important to treat them with great caution. Therefore, when updates are proposed, they must be accompanied by a strong rationale and present a low risk of regressions.

When

Stable release updates will, in general, only be issued in order to fix "high-impact" bugs. Examples of such bugs include:

  • Security vulnerabilities
  • Severe regressions from the previous release of Ubuntu
  • Bugs which may, under realistic circumstances, directly cause user data to be lost

How

  1. Proposing
    • All proposals for stable release updates must first be discussed with XXX and be approved by XXX. Proposals must be accompanied by the following information for each bug to be addressed:
      • A bug number referring to a complete bug report describing the problem and its effect
      • A statement explaining the impact of the bug on users and justification for backporting the fix to the stable release
      • An explanation of how the bug has been addressed in the development branch, including the relevant version numbers of packages modified in order to implement the fix

      A copy of this proposal and a hyperlink to the resulting discussion thread should be added to the bug report as a comment, usually by CCing bugnumber@bugs.launchpad.net.

  2. Preparing
    • Once an update has been discussed and approved in principle, a patch should be prepared for the stable release. The following criteria apply to any packages modified as part of the update:
      • The changelog entry and resulting .changes file must include a reference to the corresponding bug report(s), including the approved proposal
      • The version number(s) must be carefully checked in order to avoid clashing with any other version of the package, past, present or future

      • The upload target should be release-proposed

      • XXX more standard checklist items here
      Uploads which do not meet these criteria will be rejected by an archive administrator and not published.
  3. Testing

    • Once the update has been uploaded to -proposed and built, it can be reviewed and tested by a wider audience. A copy of the complete source package delta (debdiff) should be attached to the bug report for review. XXX uploader, peer, community

  4. Releasing
    • XXX re-upload to -updates with no changes other than changelog, final signoff
  5. Following up
    • XXX monitor Malone for regressions, regression response procedure

StableReleaseUpdates (last edited 2026-03-24 09:33:35 by sally-makin)