Hi Axis2 developers:
In an effort to coalesce some recent discussion into a policy, here is a
proposal for how we should manage releases and dealing with SVN. If we
can agree on this, I'll check in an HTML version, and we can start
following these guidelines for our next release.
This is important stuff, please take a moment to read it over and see if
you agree with the principles. The goals are 1) minimize "speed bumps"
to active development, 2) make it easy to manage releases both as
they're going out and for future bug fixes, 3) make sure we don't lose
anything and also avoid giant merges.
Please chime in with +1/-1 and/or comments.
Thanks,
--Glen
===========================================================
--- Cutting a branch
* When a release is ready to go, release manager (RM) puts forward a
release plan as per standard Apache process, including dates. This gets
VOTEd on by the committers. During this period the trunk is still the
only relevant source base.
* As soon as a release is approved (or even before), RM should add the
new version into JIRA as a target.
* At the point where we would normally do the "code freeze" for a
release, the RM cuts a branch named for the release. This branch is
where the release candidates and releases will happen.
* Ideally a release branch is only around for a week or maybe two before
the release happens.
* The only things that should EVER get checked into the release branch
are - 1) bug fixes targeted at the release, 2) release-specific updates
(documentation, SNAPSHOT removal, etc). In particular new functionality
does not go here unless it is a solution to a JIRA report targeted at
the release.
* Normal development continues on the trunk.
--- Dependencies and branches
* The trunk should always be "cutting edge" and as such should usually
be pointing at SNAPSHOT versions of all dependencies. This allows for
continuous integration with our partner projects.
* Soon after a release branch is cut, the RM is responsible for removing
ALL dependencies on SNAPSHOT versions and replacing them with officially
released versions. This change happens only on the release branch.
--- Managing change and issue resolution with a release branch
* The RM goes through JIRA issues and sets "fix for" to point to both
"NIGHTLY" and the new branched release number for the fixes that are
targeted for the release after the branch is cut.
* In general, the assignee/coder fixes JIRA issues or makes other
changes *on the trunk*. If the JIRA issue is targeted at the release,
or upon coder's discretion, they then merge the fix over to the release
branch.
* This way the trunk is ALWAYS up-to-date, and we don't have to worry
about losing fixes that have only been made on the release branch.
* When the assignee resolves an issue, they confirm it's been fixed in
both branches, if appropriate.
--- Checking changes into the branch
* If bug fixes are needed later for a release which has long since
happened (to fix user issues, etc), those fixes generally should also
happen on the trunk first assuming the problem still exists on the trunk.
* There are only two cases where we would ever check anything into the
branch without first checking it into the trunk. 1) Release specific
items (release number references, release notes, removal of SNAPSHOTs),
and 2) if the trunk has moved on in some incompatible way.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
