2018-02-09 14:03:33 +01:00
										 
									 
								 
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								QEMU and the stable process
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								===========================
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								QEMU stable releases
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								--------------------
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								QEMU stable releases are based upon the last released QEMU version
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								and marked by an additional version number, e.g. 2.10.1. Occasionally,
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								a four-number version is released, if a single urgent fix needs to go
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								on top.
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								Usually, stable releases are only provided for the last major QEMU
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								release. For example, when QEMU 2.11.0 is released, 2.11.x or 2.11.x.y
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								stable releases are produced only until QEMU 2.12.0 is released, at
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								which point the stable process moves to producing 2.12.x/2.12.x.y releases.
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								What should go into a stable release?
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								-------------------------------------
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								Generally, the following patches are considered stable material:
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											2020-01-13 11:30:23 +01:00
										 
									 
								 
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								* Patches that fix severe issues, like fixes for CVEs
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								* Patches that fix regressions
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											2018-02-09 14:03:33 +01:00
										 
									 
								 
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								If you think the patch would be important for users of the current release
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								(or for a distribution picking fixes), it is usually a good candidate
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								for stable.
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								How to get a patch into QEMU stable
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								-----------------------------------
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								There are various ways to get a patch into stable:
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								* Preferred: Make sure that the stable maintainers are on copy when you send
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								  the patch by adding
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								  .. code::
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								     Cc: qemu-stable@nongnu.org
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								  to the patch description. By default, this will send a copy of the patch
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								  to ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` if you use git send-email, which is where
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								  patches that are stable candidates are tracked by the maintainers.
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								* You can also reply to a patch and put ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` on copy
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								  directly in your mail client if you think a previously submitted patch
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								  should be considered for a stable release.
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								* If a maintainer judges the patch appropriate for stable later on (or you
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								  notify them), they will add the same line to the patch, meaning that
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								  the stable maintainers will be on copy on the maintainer's pull request.
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								* If you judge an already merged patch suitable for stable, send a mail
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								  (preferably as a reply to the most recent patch submission) to
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								  ``qemu-stable@nongnu.org`` along with ``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` and
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								  appropriate other people (like the patch author or the relevant maintainer)
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								  on copy.
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								Stable release process
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								----------------------
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								When the stable maintainers prepare a new stable release, they will prepare
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								a git branch with a release candidate and send the patches out to
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								``qemu-devel@nongnu.org`` for review. If any of your patches are included,
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								please verify that they look fine, especially if the maintainer had to tweak
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								the patch as part of back-porting things across branches. You may also
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								nominate other patches that you think are suitable for inclusion. After
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								review is complete (may involve more release candidates), a new stable release
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								is made available.
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