Subject: Re: How current becomes stable
To: Mike M. Volokhov <mishka@apk.od.ua>
From: Mason Loring Bliss <mason@acheron.middleboro.ma.us>
List: current-users
Date: 02/20/2004 15:59:11
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On Fri, Feb 20, 2004 at 08:03:29PM +0200, Mike M. Volokhov wrote:

> 	How some parts of NetBSD-current becomes NetBSD-stable?
>=20
> For example, someone wrote excelent utility, it was included into
> -current, and many people have test it. When they mark that utility as
> stable and ready to merge into NetBSD-stable branch?

The way our branching works is as follows.

NetBSD-current is the main trunk. New development happens here, and
bug-fixes are generally applied here first. When the time comes for a
release, a new CVS branch is created, and thenceforth only small changes
and bug fixes are committed to the new branch. This typically happens
by referring to the equivalent fix in -current, which can often be applied
to the branch directly, assuming things haven't diverged too greatly in
the relevant section of code.

The current release branch is netbsd-1-6. Tracking this branch will get you
bug fixes as soon as they've been applied to the release branch.

New point releases, like 1.6.1 and 1.6.2, come directly from the release
branch. The release branch is not branched again for these, but instead is
frozen, tested, and then marked with the appropriate CVS tag. For instance,
NetBSD 1.3.3 was marked with the tag 'netbsd-1-3-PATCH003'.

See this page for more detail:

http://www.netbsd.org/Releases/release-map.html


> Another example. Let assume NetBSD-stable have some driver, say tlp(4).
> Someone have faced within chip, completely supported by this driver.
> He/she includes support for that driver into -current. Moreover, that
> chip works just perfect on both stable and current for that developer.
> Is there are any chances to support that driver in stable too (before
> whole current trunk becomes a stable, i.e. 1.5 -> 1.6)?

New features and bug fixes are pulled up to a branch by our release
engineering team, after receiving a pull-up request from a NetBSD
developer. In general, significant new functionality will only move from
-current to a release branch if it applies very cleanly to the branch. In
the example you're giving, it seems likely that the driver would be pulled
up, as, in the hypothetical example, it works cleanly with both the release
branch and -current.

Keeping in mind that it must be an authorized NetBSD developer sending in
the pull-up request, you can get a great deal of information regarding the
specifics of the process here:

http://www.netbsd.org/developers/releng/pullups.html

--=20
Mason Loring Bliss  mason@acheron.middleboro.ma.us  https://bliss.dyndns.or=
g/ =20
  "I am a brother of jackals, and a companion of ostriches."  (Job 30 : 29)

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