From f7b881c7a8fa149973f217e4872bb22aef08ba25 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Michael Opdenacker Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 17:34:01 +0100 Subject: ref-manual: release-process.rst: major updates - Introduce LTS releases - Fix stable release support duration - Update release notes - Add a diagram illustrating the release process (From yocto-docs rev: d87ef48873ba075a3632f1e2aeb5dc2f8a3400bb) Signed-off-by: Michael Opdenacker Signed-off-by: Richard Purdie --- documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst | 50 +- documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg | 1230 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 1264 insertions(+), 16 deletions(-) create mode 100644 documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg 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 also shown. See the ":ref:`ref-manual/release-process:major release codenames`" section for information on codenames used with major releases. - - 2.2 (Morty) - - 2.1 (Krogoth) - - 2.0 (Jethro) + - 4.1 ("Langdale") + - 4.0 ("Kirkstone") + - 3.4 ("Honister") While the cadence is never perfect, this timescale facilitates regular 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 fixes or enhancements to the associated major release. Following are some example past point releases: - - 2.1.1 - - 2.1.2 - - 2.2.1 + - 4.1.3 + - 4.0.8 + - 3.4.4 The point release indicates a point in the major release branch where a full QA cycle and @@ -87,15 +87,34 @@ stable release. exception to this policy occurs when there is a strong reason such as the fix happens to also be the preferred upstream approach. -Stable release branches have strong maintenance for about a year after -their initial release. Should significant issues be found for any -release regardless of its age, fixes could be backported to older -releases. For issues that are not backported given an older release, -Community LTS trees and branches allow community members to share -patches for older releases. However, these types of patches do not go -through the same release process as do point releases. You can find more -information about stable branch maintenance at -:yocto_wiki:`/Stable_branch_maintenance`. +Long Term Support Releases +========================== + +While stable releases are supported for a duration of seven months, +some specific ones are now supported for a longer period by the Yocto +Project, and are called Long Term Support (LTS) releases. + +This started with version 3.1 ("Dunfell"), released in April 2020, that +the project committed to supporting until the next LTS release was out. +This next LTS release, version 4.0 ("Kirkstone"), was released in May 2022 +and offered with two years of support too. + +However, as an experiment, support for "Dunfell" was extended to four years, until +April 2024, therefore offering more stability to projects and leaving more time +to upgrade to the latest LTS release. The project hasn't made any commitment to +extending "Kirkstone" support too, as this will also depend on available funding +for such an effort. + +When significant issues are found, LTS releases allow to publish +fixes not only for the current stable release, but also to the +LTS releases that are still supported. Older stable releases which +have reached their End of Life (EOL) won't receive such updates. + +See :yocto_wiki:`/Stable_Release_and_LTS` for details about the management +of stable and LTS releases. + +.. image:: svg/releases.* + :width: 100% .. note:: @@ -113,7 +132,6 @@ information about stable branch maintenance at testing on them. Other "mixin" layers may be released elsewhere by the wider community. - Testing and Quality Assurance ============================= diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg b/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f2607244c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg @@ -0,0 +1,1230 @@ + + + + + + image/svg+xml + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Dunfell (LTS)3.1 + + Gatesgarth3.2 + + + Honister3.4 + + Langdale4.1 + + Mickledore4.2 + + Nanbield4.3 + + Kirkstone (LTS)4.0 + Hardknott3.3 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Oct.2023 + Oct.2022 + Oct.2021 + Oct.2020 + Apr.2020 + Apr2022 + Apr.2024 + Apr.2023 + Apr.2021 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf