Stable derivative branch handling

[Stefan Bader]

On 13.06.2011 15:46, Andy Whitcroft wrote:
> [This email is the result of a number of IRC conversations and chats
> about derivative branch handing, particularly focused on ensuring that
> we are maintaining forward progress on CVEs for all supported branches.]
> 
> The stable team has repsonsibilty for preparation of the master distro
> kernels, uploading them, and shepherding them through the phases of the
> stable cadance in a timely fashion.
> 
> From a kernel maintenance point of view this has meant that the greater
> team has continued to review updates and apply those to the pending
> branches (master-next et al).  The stable team has then taken the current
> contents of those pending branches and rolled those up and pushed them
> onto the cadance conveyor.
> 
> Derivative branches have typically been rebased by the stable team where
> that is successful with those being pushed to a domain expert on failure.
> Typically such failures have not held up the cadance.
> 
> After some discussion on IRC it was decided that it is time we formalised
> the process for derivative branches and the interactions between the core
> team and the domain experts for preparing kernels for release, such that we
> have formal checkpoints in the stable cadance to ensure that the derivative
> branches are updated when required but do not prevent forward progress.
> 
> To this end once the main distro kernel tree are prepared the kernel
> stable team will announce their availability to the derivative branch
> maintainers.  This will indicate that the master branches are now ready
> for rebasing onto where that is appropriate.  The derivative maintainers
> will then rebase if required and determine if their branch has anything
> worthy of an upload.  If so they will reply to the announcement adding
> their branch to the versions to pushed this cycle.  The stable team will
> then handle closing and uploading this branch with the main branches.
> If the derivative branches are not ready in time for upload, they will
> simply slip to the next cadance round.
> 
> The current derivative branch maintainers are:
> 
>  - smb: Lucid -ec2
>  - ppisati: everything arm
> 
> Comments?
> 
> -apw
> 

Totally agree as, especially with the ec2 branch, it had a tendency to break on
rebase, or even worse not to break but missing important pieces in the cloned files.

-Stefan