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-rw-r--r--documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst50
1 files changed, 34 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst b/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst
index a9202a10e4..0b0b4b275a 100644
--- a/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst
+++ b/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ Following are examples of some major YP releases with their codenames
18also shown. See the ":ref:`ref-manual/release-process:major release codenames`" 18also shown. See the ":ref:`ref-manual/release-process:major release codenames`"
19section for information on codenames used with major releases. 19section for information on codenames used with major releases.
20 20
21 - 2.2 (Morty) 21 - 4.1 ("Langdale")
22 - 2.1 (Krogoth) 22 - 4.0 ("Kirkstone")
23 - 2.0 (Jethro) 23 - 3.4 ("Honister")
24 24
25While the cadence is never perfect, this timescale facilitates 25While the cadence is never perfect, this timescale facilitates
26regular releases that have strong QA cycles while not overwhelming users 26regular releases that have strong QA cycles while not overwhelming users
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ basis and are usually driven by the accumulation of enough significant
32fixes or enhancements to the associated major release. Following are 32fixes or enhancements to the associated major release. Following are
33some example past point releases: 33some example past point releases:
34 34
35 - 2.1.1 35 - 4.1.3
36 - 2.1.2 36 - 4.0.8
37 - 2.2.1 37 - 3.4.4
38 38
39The point release 39The point release
40indicates a point in the major release branch where a full QA cycle and 40indicates a point in the major release branch where a full QA cycle and
@@ -87,15 +87,34 @@ stable release.
87 exception to this policy occurs when there is a strong reason such as 87 exception to this policy occurs when there is a strong reason such as
88 the fix happens to also be the preferred upstream approach. 88 the fix happens to also be the preferred upstream approach.
89 89
90Stable release branches have strong maintenance for about a year after 90Long Term Support Releases
91their initial release. Should significant issues be found for any 91==========================
92release regardless of its age, fixes could be backported to older 92
93releases. For issues that are not backported given an older release, 93While stable releases are supported for a duration of seven months,
94Community LTS trees and branches allow community members to share 94some specific ones are now supported for a longer period by the Yocto
95patches for older releases. However, these types of patches do not go 95Project, and are called Long Term Support (LTS) releases.
96through the same release process as do point releases. You can find more 96
97information about stable branch maintenance at 97This started with version 3.1 ("Dunfell"), released in April 2020, that
98:yocto_wiki:`/Stable_branch_maintenance`. 98the project committed to supporting until the next LTS release was out.
99This next LTS release, version 4.0 ("Kirkstone"), was released in May 2022
100and offered with two years of support too.
101
102However, as an experiment, support for "Dunfell" was extended to four years, until
103April 2024, therefore offering more stability to projects and leaving more time
104to upgrade to the latest LTS release. The project hasn't made any commitment to
105extending "Kirkstone" support too, as this will also depend on available funding
106for such an effort.
107
108When significant issues are found, LTS releases allow to publish
109fixes not only for the current stable release, but also to the
110LTS releases that are still supported. Older stable releases which
111have reached their End of Life (EOL) won't receive such updates.
112
113See :yocto_wiki:`/Stable_Release_and_LTS` for details about the management
114of stable and LTS releases.
115
116.. image:: svg/releases.*
117 :width: 100%
99 118
100.. note:: 119.. note::
101 120
@@ -113,7 +132,6 @@ information about stable branch maintenance at
113 testing on them. Other "mixin" layers may be released elsewhere by the wider 132 testing on them. Other "mixin" layers may be released elsewhere by the wider
114 community. 133 community.
115 134
116
117Testing and Quality Assurance 135Testing and Quality Assurance
118============================= 136=============================
119 137