qemu/docs/devel/stable-process.rst

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docs: Fix botched rST conversion of 'submitting-a-patch.rst' I completely botched up the merged[0] rST conversion of this document by accidentally dropping entire hunks (!) of text. :-( I made it very hard for reviewers to spot it, as the omitted text was buried deep in the document. To fix my hatchet job, I reconverted the "SubmitAPatch" wiki[1] page from scratch and replaced the existing rST with it, while making sure I incorporated previous feedback. In summary, in this reconverted edition: - I did a careful (to the extent my eyes allowed) para-by-para comparison of the wiki and the rST to make sure I didn't omit anything accidentally. - I made sure to work in the cosmetic feedback[2] that Thomas Huth pointed out in the merged (and botched) edition: - fix the hyperlinks in "Split up long patches" - replace ".". with "does not end with a dot" (in "Write a meaningful commit message" section) - replace "---" with ``---`` so that it doesn't render as an em-dash (there were two other occurrences; I fixed those too) - Use "QEMU" spelling consistently in prose usage - Add a consistent "refer to git-config" link where appropriate Thanks to Thomas Huth and Alex Bennée for noticing it on IRC. And sorry for my sloppiness. Fixes: 9f73de8df033 ("docs: rSTify the "SubmitAPatch" wiki") [0] https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/commit/9f73de8df033 [1] https://wiki.qemu.org/index.php?title=Contribute/SubmitAPatch&oldid=10387 [2] https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2021-11/msg03600.html Signed-off-by: Kashyap Chamarthy <kchamart@redhat.com> Message-Id: <20211119193118.949698-2-kchamart@redhat.com> Reviewed-by: Eric Blake <eblake@redhat.com> [thuth: Some more cosmetical changes, fixed links from external to internal] Signed-off-by: Thomas Huth <thuth@redhat.com>
2021-11-19 22:31:17 +03:00
.. _stable-process:
QEMU and the stable process
===========================
QEMU stable releases
--------------------
QEMU stable releases are based upon the last released QEMU version
and marked by an additional version number, e.g. 2.10.1. Occasionally,
a four-number version is released, if a single urgent fix needs to go
on top.
Usually, stable releases are only provided for the last major QEMU
release. For example, when QEMU 2.11.0 is released, 2.11.x or 2.11.x.y
stable releases are produced only until QEMU 2.12.0 is released, at
which point the stable process moves to producing 2.12.x/2.12.x.y releases.
What should go into a stable release?
-------------------------------------
Generally, the following patches are considered stable material:
* Patches that fix severe issues, like fixes for CVEs
* Patches that fix regressions
If you think the patch would be important for users of the current release
(or for a distribution picking fixes), it is usually a good candidate
for stable.
How to get a patch into QEMU stable
-----------------------------------
There are various ways to get a patch into stable:
* Preferred: Make sure that the stable maintainers are on copy when you send
the patch by adding
.. code::
Cc: qemu-stable@nongnu.org
to the patch description. By default, this will send a copy of the patch
to ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` if you use git send-email, which is where
patches that are stable candidates are tracked by the maintainers.
* You can also reply to a patch and put ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` on copy
directly in your mail client if you think a previously submitted patch
should be considered for a stable release.
* If a maintainer judges the patch appropriate for stable later on (or you
notify them), they will add the same line to the patch, meaning that
the stable maintainers will be on copy on the maintainer's pull request.
* If you judge an already merged patch suitable for stable, send a mail
(preferably as a reply to the most recent patch submission) to
``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` along with ``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` and
appropriate other people (like the patch author or the relevant maintainer)
on copy.
Stable release process
----------------------
When the stable maintainers prepare a new stable release, they will prepare
a git branch with a release candidate and send the patches out to
``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` for review. If any of your patches are included,
please verify that they look fine, especially if the maintainer had to tweak
the patch as part of back-porting things across branches. You may also
nominate other patches that you think are suitable for inclusion. After
review is complete (may involve more release candidates), a new stable release
is made available.