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Hi All,

# TL;DR

Is this reasonable: https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Upgrading.md#maintenance-warning ? Comment here or on [6].


# 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?
- 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.
- 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.


# 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.


Cheers,

James

[1] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Stable-Branch-Strategy.md#branch-management
[2] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/wiki/Kata-Containers-2.0-Roadmap
[3] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers
[4] - https://github.com/kata-containers/community/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md#porting
[5] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/blob/2.0-dev/docs/Upgrading.md
[6] - https://github.com/kata-containers/kata-containers/issues/956

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