Clarifying Unseeded Universe Freeze

[Clint Byrum]

Excerpts from Kate Stewart's message of Wed Sep 28 15:36:09 -0700 2011:
> Dear Ubuntu release team members, 
> 
>   On the #ubuntu-release IRC channel today the discussion of when should
> the unseeded universe freeze came up today. A proposal was made to
> freeze it 36 hours before the final images are published. 
> 
> The precedents that exist in our current process documentation right now
> are:
> 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReleaseProcess
> 
>       * Work with universe/multiverse community to identify delegates to
>         approve Feature Freeze Exceptions, in addition to ubuntu-release
>         until the date of Final Freeze for universe.
>       * Set the Final Freeze date (typically at release minus 5 days)
>         for universe/multiverse for the packages that are NOT found on
>         any installation media. 
>       * Universe/multiverse delegates and final freeze date is broadcast
>         to ubuntu-devel-discuss and ubuntu-devel-announce. 
> 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/FinalFreeze
>         
>         * For packages in universe that aren't seeded in any of the
>         Ubuntu flavors, this final freeze is nominal; packages must be
>         manually accepted by the archive admins, but no additional
>         approval is required until the Unseeded Universe Final Freeze.
>         
> Have I missed any other references to the Unseeded Universe Freeze that
> are relevant?
> 
> What do others think?   pro's/con's of moving from 5 days to 1.5 days?

This is not all inclusive, but these things come to mind:

Pro's of 1.5 days vs 5 days:

* Less 0-day SRU's (any bugs found late can be fixed in release, easing
the burden of the heavy SRU process)

Con's:

* Approving packages means more duties for the release team close to
the release date

* Time spent fixing things in universe is less time spent testing main


I think having more fixes in the released universe is a good thing for
quality, but I worry about the impact, even if its small, on the release
process as a whole.