From cc3287637c30080333d89a368e40473dfffb2fb7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Michael Opdenacker Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2023 15:09:06 +0200 Subject: ref-manual: release-process: update for LTS releases (From yocto-docs rev: 145488ac9ee4ad5efb0966f07ff5e7ff804f6562) Signed-off-by: Michael Opdenacker Signed-off-by: Steve Sakoman --- documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst | 78 +- documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg | 1744 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 1800 insertions(+), 22 deletions(-) create mode 100644 documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg (limited to 'documentation/ref-manual') diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst b/documentation/ref-manual/release-process.rst index 8acb4b8e09..d376d51bd2 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 +87,51 @@ 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`. +.. _ref-long-term-support-releases: + +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 (:term:`LTS`) releases. + +When significant issues are found, :term:`LTS` releases allow to publish +fixes not only for the current stable release, but also to the +:term:`LTS` releases that are still supported. Older stable releases which +have reached their End of Life (EOL) won't receive such updates. + +This started with version 3.1 ("Dunfell"), released in April 2020, which +the project initially committed to supporting for two years, but this duration +was later extended to four years. Similarly, the following :term:`LTS` release, +version 4.0 ("Kirkstone"), was released two years later in May 2022 and the +project committed to supporting it for four years too. + +Therefore, a new :term:`LTS` release is made every two years and is supported +for four years. This offers more stability to project users and leaves more +time to upgrade to the following :term:`LTS` release. + +See :yocto_wiki:`/Stable_Release_and_LTS` for details about the management +of stable and :term:`LTS` releases. + +.. image:: svg/releases.* + :width: 100% + +.. note:: + + In some circumstances, a layer can be created by the community in order to + add a specific feature or support a new version of some package for an :term:`LTS` + release. This is called a :term:`Mixin` layer. These are thin and specific + purpose layers which can be stacked with an :term:`LTS` release to "mix" a specific + feature into that build. These are created on an as-needed basis and + maintained by the people who need them. + + Policies on testing these layers depend on how widespread their usage is and + determined on a case-by-case basis. You can find some :term:`Mixin` layers in the + :yocto_git:`meta-lts-mixins ` repository. While the Yocto + Project provides hosting for those repositories, it does not provides + testing on them. Other :term:`Mixin` layers may be released elsewhere by the wider + community. Testing and Quality Assurance ============================= @@ -155,14 +191,12 @@ effort has been made to automate the tests so that more people can use them and the Yocto Project development team can run them faster and more efficiently. -The Yocto Project's main Autobuilder (&YOCTO_AB_URL;) -publicly tests each Yocto Project release's code in the -:term:`OpenEmbedded-Core (OE-Core)`, Poky, and BitBake repositories. The testing -occurs for both the current state of the "master" branch and also for +The Yocto Project's main Autobuilder (&YOCTO_AB_URL;) publicly tests each Yocto +Project release's code in the :oe_git:`openembedded-core `, +:yocto_git:`poky ` and :oe_git:`bitbake ` repositories. The +testing occurs for both the current state of the "master" branch and also for submitted patches. Testing for submitted patches usually occurs in the -"ross/mut" branch in the ``poky-contrib`` repository (i.e. the -master-under-test branch) or in the "master-next" branch in the ``poky`` -repository. +in the "master-next" branch in the :yocto_git:`poky ` repository. .. note:: diff --git a/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg b/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..e7d5c6d502 --- /dev/null +++ b/documentation/ref-manual/svg/releases.svg @@ -0,0 +1,1744 @@ + + + Yocto Project Release Timeline + + + + image/svg+xml + + + Yocto Project Release Timeline + + + The Yocto Project + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Dunfell (LTS)3.1 + + Gatesgarth3.2 + + + Honister3.4 + + Langdale4.1 + + Mickledore4.2 + + + Nanbield4.3 + + + Scarthgap4.4 + + Kirkstone (LTS)4.0 + Hardknott 3.3 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Oct.2023 + Oct.2024 + Oct.2025 + Support for this version was extended to leaveusers more time to adapt to override syntaxchanges in the 3.4 release. + Oct.2022 + Oct.2021 + Oct.2020 + Apr.2020 + Apr2022 + Apr.2024 + Apr.2025 + Apr.2026 + Apr.2023 + Apr.2021 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Oct.2026 + Oct.2027 + Apr.2027 + Apr.2028 + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf