major change release management for former Extras packages?

[Josh Boyer]

On Mon, 2007-05-07 at 06:12 -0700, Alex Lancaster wrote:
> >>>>> "JB" == Josh Boyer  writes:
> 
> [...]
> 
> >> I can't find any FAQ on the wiki (or definitive discussions on this
> >> mailing list) where policy has been established and about how this
> >> is supposed to work (other than perhaps mentioning it in
> >> discussions in FESCo meetings).  This is something needs to be
> >> front and centre right now before F7 goes live.
> 
> JB> We've been pointing people to this page:
> 
> JB> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/ReleaseEngineering/DevelFreezePolicy
> 
> JB> for a while now...
> 
> JB> Then there's this:
> 
> JB> https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-maintainers/2007-May/msg00068.html
> 
> JB> Which also says you need to email rel-eng to get stuff into the
> JB> f7-final tag.  Likely the reason Extras stuff isn't highlighted is
> JB> because there is no Extras in the merged world.  All packages
> JB> follow the same process.
> 
> I'm sorry, I don't think it's nearly obvious enough for most non-RH
> packagers (as the questions in this thread make clear).  For example

I'm a non-RH packager.  Don't generalize based on company, because I can
assure you there are RH packagers that don't fully understand what to do
either.

> there is no link to that page on
> 
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers
> http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PackageMaintainers/NewPackageProcess

These are out of date now, yes.

> 
> There should be a message on this list (and maybe fedora-devel-list)
> spelling out (or linking to a wiki package) exactly what the new
> procedures are and what they mean for all (former Extras) packagers.
> 
> I have been monitoring fedora-maintainers as required in the
> sponsorship/signup for all contributors/packagers and I have yet to
> see an e-mail with title of something like "Attention all former
> Extras packages: here is the new release process"

Ok, fair enough.  And now you've started something to work from.

> 
> So many things are currently not specified, e.g.:
> 
> 1) What exactly are "tags", "tasks" and "builds" in the new koji build
>    system?  How do they relate to each other?  What does it mean for
>    tags to "inherit" from each other (I sort of figured out some of
>    this stuff by hunting around on the koji site, but that shouldn't
>    be necessary).

Builds should already be known.  It doesn't differ from plague.

Tasks are "currently on-going job requests to the buildsystem".  Those
can be multiple types of requests, but typically take the form of
builds.

Tags are really the only new thing here.  And I don't think you really
want the definition of a tag, but rather "what do the individual tags
mean?"  So here's a brief overview:

dist-fc7: The is the tag that gets applied to all currently devel builds
upon successful completion.  If we weren't under freeze, it would mean
"rawhide".

f7-final: This tag is what represents the state of both rawhide and the
current final F7 repository.  If you want your package included in F7,
then you need to get it tagged with this tag.

dist-fc8: This hasn't been created yet, but once it is it will represent
rawhide again.  Should happen after F7 is branched.

> 
> 2) Who decides and/or approves rel-eng requests?  How long will they
>    take to process?  What criteria do they use?

The rel-eng folks decide.  There's a link on the freeze page to who is
actually on rel-eng.

As for how long it takes, normally it's within 1 day.  The criteria
differ based on each request, so it's fairly pointless to try and
document them.  Usually it's something along the lines of "how many
things will this update break if it introduces a bug", etc.

> To the outside packager/contributor who isn't being paid to monitor
> all this traffic, however, all this tacit knowledge needs to be made
> *much* more explicit because it's a world of difference to how Extras
> has worked up until now and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is
> somewhat confused by the new processes.

Fair enough, and we're working on it.

josh