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Backports policy
===
Aims
---
* Known bugs should be fixed in stable versions of GLib
* New bugs must not be introduced into stable versions of GLib
* Users and distributors should be able to rely on micro stable releases
working as drop-in replacements for the previous releases on that stable
branch, requiring no packaging changes, or recompilation or build system
changes in dependent projects
* Effort is only spent on [supported versions](../SECURITY.md#user-content-supported-versions)
Policy
---
* Bug fixes and documentation fixes should be backported to the current stable
branch of GLib, from the current unstable branch
* Backports should only be done to
[supported versions](../SECURITY.md#user-content-supported-versions) of GLib
* New features must not be backported
* Any change which will require packaging changes in a distribution should not
be backported unless unavoidable to fix a widely-occurring bug
* If a backported change does affect packaging or use of GLib, it must be
listed prominently in the release notes for that stable release
* Any change which requires changes or additions to translatable strings should
not be backported unless unavoidable to fix a widely-occurring bug
- If possible, existing translatable strings should be reused
- If unavoidable, liase with the GNOME Translation Team and ensure string
changes are landed with plenty of time to allow translators to provide new
translations
- See https://wiki.gnome.org/TranslationProject/HandlingStringFreezes
* API or ABI changes (including API additions) must not be backported
- A commit which changes the documented behaviour of a function counts as an
API break
* It is discretionary whether fixes to test cases, or new test cases, are
backported, based on a maintainer’s assessment of the effort required to
backport vs the value in running those tests on a stable branch
- The risk of backporting changes to tests is that they fail or become flaky,
and require further work on the stable branch to fix them
* All backports must be submitted as a merge request against the stable branch,
must pass through continuous integration, and must be reviewed by a
maintainer (other than the person submitting the merge request)
- The reviewer should first assess whether the backport is necessary, and
then review it as with any other merge request
- The submitter must set a stable release milestone on the merge request, so
that the next stable release can’t be accidentally made before it’s merged
* Typically, backports are trivial cherry-picks of commits from the unstable
branch — changes to the unstable branch which are intended to be backported
should be structured so that backporting is easier
- For example, by splitting changes to be backported into a separate commit
from those which should not be backported, or splitting out changes which
are more likely to cause conflicts when cherry-picked
* These rules are not entirely prescriptive: there may be situations where
maintainers agree that a backport is necessary even if it breaks some of
these rules, due to the balance of fixing a critical bug vs keeping things
easy for distribution maintainers
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