On Thu, Jan 15, 2026 at 09:39:13PM +0100, BALATON Zoltan wrote: > On Thu, 15 Jan 2026, Daniel P. Berrangé wrote: > > Informally we have approximately three groups of platforms > > > > * Tier 1: fully built and fully tested by CI. Must always be > > kept working & regressions fixed immediately > > > > * Tier 2: fully built and partially tested by CI. Should > > always be kept working & regressions fixed quickly > > > > * Tier 3: code exists but is not built or tested by CI. > > Should not be intentionally broken but not > > guaranteed to work at any time. Downstream must > > manually test, report & fix bugs. > > > > Anything else is "unclassified" and any historical code > > remnants may be removed. > > > > It is somewhat tricky to define unambiguous rules for each tier, > > but this doc takes a stab at it. We don't need to cover every > > eventuality. If we get the core points of view across, then it > > at least sets the direction for maintainers/contributors/users. > > Other aspects can be inferred with greater accuracy than today. > > > > Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <[email protected]> > > --- > > > > This came out of the discussion about recent unnoticed breakage > > in NetBSD builds and what maintainers are expected todo about > > it (if anything) > > > > https://lists.nongnu.org/archive/html/qemu-devel/2026-01/msg02543.html > > > > docs/about/build-platforms.rst | 152 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > 1 file changed, 152 insertions(+) > > > > diff --git a/docs/about/build-platforms.rst b/docs/about/build-platforms.rst > > index e95784cdb5..950e164c02 100644 > > --- a/docs/about/build-platforms.rst > > +++ b/docs/about/build-platforms.rst
> > +Tier 3 > > +~~~~~~ > > + > > +These platforms have theoretical support in the code, but have > > +little, or no, automated build and test coverage. Downstream > > +consumers (users or distributors) who care about these platforms > > +are requested to perform manual testing, report bugs and provide > > +patches. > > + > > + * Builds and tests may be broken at any time in Git HEAD and > > + releases > > + > > + * Builds are not integrated into CI > > + > > + * Tests are not integrated into CI > > + > > + * Merging code is not gated > > + > > +This covers: > > + > > + * NetBSD > > + * OpenBSD > > + * macOS (except aarch64) > > + * FreeBSD (except x86_64) > > + * Windows (except x86_64) > > + * Solaris > > + > > +Responsibilities: > > + > > + * Contributors MAY test patches on Tier 3 platforms manually > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY request contributors to fix problems > > + on Tier 3 platforms > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY test patches on Tier 3 platforms manually > > + > > + * Maintainers SHOULD NOT accept patches that remove code > > + targetting Tier 3 platforms even if currently broken > > If an OS stops supporting a platform in new versions then due to the policy > of supporting only the last two OS versions in QEMU may lead to breaking > this. Maybe it tries to say that Tier 3 is intended to be fixed but no > guarantees on when? It is also clarified below so maybe this clause is not > needed or need to be reworded? The policy on only supporting the most recent 2 releases of an OS applies universally regardless of the Tier levels. I should state that explicitly in this new doc to make that clear. IOW, maintainers are free to remove code that is only relevant to OS versions /older/ than 2 releases whether that code is broken or not. > > > + * Downstream vendors SHOULD test RC releases on Tier 3 platforms > > + and provide bug reports and patches to address problems > > + > > +Note: if a Tier 3 platform is found to be significantly broken, > > +no patches are contributed for a prolonged period, and there is > > +no sign of downstream usage, it is liable to be moved to > > +"Unclassified" and thus be subject to removal. > > + > > + > > +Unclassified > > +~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > + > > +These platforms are not intended to be supported in the code > > +and outside the scope of any support tiers. > > + > > + * Code supporting these platforms can removed at any time > > can be removed > > > + * Bugs reports related to these platforms will generally > > + be ignored > > + > > +This covers: > > + > > + * All 32-bit architectures on any OS > > + * Any OS not listed above > > + > > +Responsibilities: > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY decline patches that add code targetting > > + unclassified platforms > > + > > + * Maintainers MAY accept patches that remove code targetting > > + unclassified platforms With regards, Daniel -- |: https://berrange.com -o- https://www.flickr.com/photos/dberrange :| |: https://libvirt.org -o- https://fstop138.berrange.com :| |: https://entangle-photo.org -o- https://www.instagram.com/dberrange :|
