Hey James, Firstly, let me say sorry we didn't have the time to address this during the last AC meeting. And thanks for bringing this up via email. Please, consider this answer was given with my AC member's hat off, as I'm with my red fedora on here. :-) On Thu, Oct 15, 2020 at 12:39 PM Hunt, James O <james.o.hunt@intel.com> wrote:
Hi All,
# TL;DR
Is this reasonable: https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Upgradi... ? Comment here or on [6].
Yes, this sounds reasonable to me.
# Introduction
For Kata 1.x, we maintain two stable branches [1]. We will soon be releasing Kata 2.0 [2], and at some point we will create a stable 2.x release.
# Questions
This raises a couple of questions:
- How long will the 1.x stable branches be maintained?
I'd like to see the 1.x stable branches maintained for 6~9 months, and then we revisit the discussion. The reason for that is giving time for distros to package 2.0 and its new dependencies, and having it around for at least one release before we stop maintaining those. Does the suggestion make sense? By the way, this very same suggestion was made in one of the ACs meeting a few weeks ago, with the same reasoning.
- When will the 2.0 repo [3] make a stable 2.x release?
# Impact
The answers to these questions will impact:
- The Kata project since each branch has an associated maintenance cost.
Currently we maintain 1.10-stable, 1.11-stable and we'll release 1.12 soon. What about cutting the maintenance off by maintaining in parallel only the "development" branch and the latest stable release? So, when 1.12 is out, we'd be maintaining only it and 2.0. Does this sound reasonable? Or do we have a strong reason for keeping 1.10-stable, for instance? I can see a reason for maintaining 1.11-stable, though.
- Kata 1.x -> 2.x migration planning for users. - The backporting process [4] for developers (since when we have a 2.x stable branch, bug fixes may need to be backported to 2.x *and* 1.x stable branches).
# Documented statement
I recently updated the upgrading guide for the upcoming Kata 2.0 release [5]. I put in some words in the "Maintenance warning" section which are pasted verbatim below:
Kata Containers 2.x is the new focus for the Kata Containers development community.
Although Kata Containers 1.x releases will continue to be published for a period of time, once a stable release for Kata Containers 2.x is published, Kata Containers 1.x stable users should consider switching to the Kata 2.x release.
## RFC
Are we happy with this wording? Please comment here or on [6], particularly if you are an Architecture Committee member.
+1 from me.
# Can we / should we go further?
Knowing how cautious some users can be, I wonder if we can commit to maintaining the 1.x branches until a *second* 2.x stable release is created.
However, if that were to happen, imho the project would require a firm commitment from the community to support this (backporting activities, PR reviews, etc), due to the extra costs involved.
Yep. I see, and I understand the cost. Still, I do believe that giving one release cycle for the distros to have it in may be a reasonable approach.
Cheers,
James
[1] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Stable-... [2] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/wiki/Kata-Containers-2.0-... [3] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers [4] - https://github.com/kata-containers/community/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#por... [5] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Upgradi... [6] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/issues/956
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