APACHE 2.x ROADMAP
==================
-Last modified at [$Date: 2002/10/19 17:41:51 $]
-
-
-INTRODUCTION
-------------
-The Apache HTTP Server project must balance two competing and disjoint
-objectives: maintain stable code for third party authors, distributors and
-most importantly users so that bug and security fixes can be quickly adopted
-without significant hardship due to user-visible changes; and continue the
-development process that requires ongoing redesign to correct earlier
-oversights and to add additional features.
-
-The Apache HTTP Server, through version 2.0, used the Module Magic Number (MMN)
-to reflect API changes. This had the shortcoming of often leaving users
-hunting to replace binary third party modules that were now incompatible.
-This also left module authors searching through the API change histories to
-determine the exact cause for the MMN change and whether their module was
-affected.
-
-With the simultaneous release of Apache 2.2-stable and Apache 2.3-development,
-the Apache HTTP Server project is moving towards a more predictable stable
-release cycle, while allowing forward progress to occur without concern
-for breaking the stable branch. This document explains the rationale between
-the two versions and their behavior.
-
-
-STABLE RELEASES, 2.{even}.{revision}
-------------------------------------
-
-All even numbered releases will be considered stable revisions.
-
-Stable revisions will retain forward compatiblity to the maximum
-possible extent. Features may be added during minor revisions, and
-features may be deprecated by making appropriate notations in the
-documentation, but no features may be removed.
-
-In essence, that implies that you can upgrade from one minor revision
-to the next with a minimum of trouble. In particular, this means:
-
- * The Module API will retain forward compatibility.
- It will not be necessary to update modules to work with new
- revisions of the stable tree.
-
- * The run-time configuration will be forward compatible.
- No configuration changes will be necessary to work with new
- revisions of the stable tree.
-
- * Compile-time configuration will be forward compatible.
- The configure command line options that work in one release
- of the stable tree will also work in the next release.
-
-As always, it will be necessary to test any new release to assure
-that it works correctly with a particular configuration and a
-particular set of modules, but every effort will be made to assure
-that upgrades are as smooth as possible.
-
-In addition, the following development restrictions will aid in
-keeping the stable tree as safe as possible:
-
- * No 'Experimental' modules; while it may be possible (based on API changes
- required to support a given module) to load a 2.3-development module into
- a 2.2-stable build of Apache, there are no guarantees. Experimental
- modules will be introduced to the 2.3-development versions and either
- added to 2.2-stable once they are proven and compatible, or deferred
- to the 2.4-stable release if they cannot be incorporated in the current
- stable release due to API change requirements.
-
- * The stable CVS tree should not remain unstable at any time. Atomic commits
- aught be used to introduce code from the development version to the stable
- tree. At any given time a security release may be in preparation,
- unbeknownst to other contributors. At any given time, testers may be
- checking out CVS head to confirm that a bug has been corrected. And as
- all code was well-tested in development prior to committing to the stable
- tree, there is really no reason for this tree to be broken for more than
- a few minutes during a lengthy commit.
-
-In order to avoid 'skipped' release numbers in the stable releases, the
-Release Manager will generally roll a release candidate (APACHE_#_#_#_RC#)
-tag. Release Candidate tarballs will be announced to the
-stable-testers@httpd.apache.org for the stable tree. Then, the participants
-will vote on the quality of the proposed release tarball.
-
-The final APACHE_#_#_# tag will not exist until the APACHE_#_#_#_RC# candidate
-has passed the usual votes to release that version. Only then is the final
-tarball packaged, removing all -rc# designations from the version number, and
-tagging the tree with the release number.
-
-DEVELOPMENT RELEASES, 2.{odd}.{revision}
------------------------------------------
-
-All odd numbered releases designate the 'next' possible stable release,
-therefore the current development version will always be one greater than
-the current stable release. Work proceeds on development releases, permitting
-the modification of the MMN at any time in order to correct deficiencies
-or shortcomings in the API. This means that modules from one development
-release to another may not be binary compatible, or may not successfully
-compile without modification to accomodate the API changes.
-
-The only 'supported' development release at any time will be the most
-recently released version. Developers will not be answering bug reports
-of older development releases once a new release is available. It becomes
-the resposibility of the reporter to use the latest development version
-to confirm that any issue still exists.
-
-Any new code, new API features or new ('experimental') modules may be
-promoted at any time to the next stable release, by a vote of the project
-contributors. This vote is based on the technical stability of the new
-code and the stability of the interface. Once moved to stable, that feature
-cannot change for the remainder of that stable release cycle, so the vote must
-reflect that the final decisions on the behavior and naming of that new
-feature were reached. Vetos continue to apply to this choice of introducing
-the new work to the stable version.
-
-At any given time, when the quality of changes to the development branch
-is considered release quality, that version may become a candidate for the
-next stable release. This includes some or all of the API changes, promoting
-experimental modules to stable or deprecating and eliminating older modules
-from the last stable release. All of these choices are considered by the
-project as a group in the interests of promoting the stable release, so that
-any given change may be 'deferred' for a future release by the group, rather
-than introduce unacceptable risks to adopting the next stable release.
-
-Third party module authors are strongly encouraged to test with the latest
-development version. This assures that the module will be ready for the next
-stable release, but more importantly, the author can react to shortcomings
-in the API early enough to warn the dev@httpd.apache.org community of the
-shortcomings so that they can be addressed before the stable release. The
-entire burden is on the module author to anticipate the needs of their module
-before the stable release is created. Once a new stable release cycle has
-begun, that API will be present for the lifetime of the stable release. Any
-desired changes in the stable versions must wait for inclusion into the next
-release cycle.
-
-When deciding to promote a development tree to being stable, a determination
-should be made whether the changes since the last stable version warrant a
-major version bump. That is, if 2.2 is the current stable version and 2.3 is
-'ready' to become stable, the group needs to decide if the next stable
-version is 2.4 or 3.0. One suggested rule of thumb is that if it requires
-too much effort to port a module from 2.2 to 2.4, then the stable version
-should be labeled 3.0.
-
-In order to ease the burden of creating development releases, the process
-for packaging a development releases is less formal than for the stable
-release. This strategy reflects the fact that while in development, versions
-are cheap. Development releases may be classified as alpha, beta, or GA
-to reflect the group's perceived stability of the tree. Development releases
-may be made at any time by any committer.
-
-Please read the following link for a more detailed description of the
-development release strategy:
-
-http://httpd.apache.org/dev/release.html
+Last modified at [$Date: 2002/10/28 04:16:40 $]
WORKS IN PROGRESS
--- /dev/null
+APACHE 2.x VERSIONING
+=====================
+Last modified at [$Date: 2002/10/28 04:16:40 $]
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+------------
+The Apache HTTP Server project must balance two competing and disjoint
+objectives: maintain stable code for third party authors, distributors and
+most importantly users so that bug and security fixes can be quickly adopted
+without significant hardship due to user-visible changes; and continue the
+development process that requires ongoing redesign to correct earlier
+oversights and to add additional features.
+
+The Apache HTTP Server, through version 2.0, used the Module Magic Number (MMN)
+to reflect API changes. This had the shortcoming of often leaving users
+hunting to replace binary third party modules that were now incompatible.
+This also left module authors searching through the API change histories to
+determine the exact cause for the MMN change and whether their module was
+affected.
+
+With the simultaneous release of Apache 2.2-stable and Apache 2.3-development,
+the Apache HTTP Server project is moving towards a more predictable stable
+release cycle, while allowing forward progress to occur without concern
+for breaking the stable branch. This document explains the rationale between
+the two versions and their behavior.
+
+
+STABLE RELEASES, 2.{even}.{revision}
+------------------------------------
+
+All even numbered releases will be considered stable revisions.
+
+Stable revisions will retain forward compatiblity to the maximum
+possible extent. Features may be added during minor revisions, and
+features may be deprecated by making appropriate notations in the
+documentation, but no features may be removed.
+
+In essence, that implies that you can upgrade from one minor revision
+to the next with a minimum of trouble. In particular, this means:
+
+ * The Module API will retain forward compatibility.
+ It will not be necessary to update modules to work with new
+ revisions of the stable tree.
+
+ * The run-time configuration will be forward compatible.
+ No configuration changes will be necessary to work with new
+ revisions of the stable tree.
+
+ * Compile-time configuration will be forward compatible.
+ The configure command line options that work in one release
+ of the stable tree will also work in the next release.
+
+As always, it will be necessary to test any new release to assure
+that it works correctly with a particular configuration and a
+particular set of modules, but every effort will be made to assure
+that upgrades are as smooth as possible.
+
+In addition, the following development restrictions will aid in
+keeping the stable tree as safe as possible:
+
+ * No 'Experimental' modules; while it may be possible (based on API changes
+ required to support a given module) to load a 2.3-development module into
+ a 2.2-stable build of Apache, there are no guarantees. Experimental
+ modules will be introduced to the 2.3-development versions and either
+ added to 2.2-stable once they are proven and compatible, or deferred
+ to the 2.4-stable release if they cannot be incorporated in the current
+ stable release due to API change requirements.
+
+ * The stable CVS tree should not remain unstable at any time. Atomic commits
+ aught be used to introduce code from the development version to the stable
+ tree. At any given time a security release may be in preparation,
+ unbeknownst to other contributors. At any given time, testers may be
+ checking out CVS head to confirm that a bug has been corrected. And as
+ all code was well-tested in development prior to committing to the stable
+ tree, there is really no reason for this tree to be broken for more than
+ a few minutes during a lengthy commit.
+
+In order to avoid 'skipped' release numbers in the stable releases, the
+Release Manager will generally roll a release candidate (APACHE_#_#_#_RC#)
+tag. Release Candidate tarballs will be announced to the
+stable-testers@httpd.apache.org for the stable tree. Then, the participants
+will vote on the quality of the proposed release tarball.
+
+The final APACHE_#_#_# tag will not exist until the APACHE_#_#_#_RC# candidate
+has passed the usual votes to release that version. Only then is the final
+tarball packaged, removing all -rc# designations from the version number, and
+tagging the tree with the release number.
+
+DEVELOPMENT RELEASES, 2.{odd}.{revision}
+-----------------------------------------
+
+All odd numbered releases designate the 'next' possible stable release,
+therefore the current development version will always be one greater than
+the current stable release. Work proceeds on development releases, permitting
+the modification of the MMN at any time in order to correct deficiencies
+or shortcomings in the API. This means that modules from one development
+release to another may not be binary compatible, or may not successfully
+compile without modification to accomodate the API changes.
+
+The only 'supported' development release at any time will be the most
+recently released version. Developers will not be answering bug reports
+of older development releases once a new release is available. It becomes
+the resposibility of the reporter to use the latest development version
+to confirm that any issue still exists.
+
+Any new code, new API features or new ('experimental') modules may be
+promoted at any time to the next stable release, by a vote of the project
+contributors. This vote is based on the technical stability of the new
+code and the stability of the interface. Once moved to stable, that feature
+cannot change for the remainder of that stable release cycle, so the vote must
+reflect that the final decisions on the behavior and naming of that new
+feature were reached. Vetos continue to apply to this choice of introducing
+the new work to the stable version.
+
+At any given time, when the quality of changes to the development branch
+is considered release quality, that version may become a candidate for the
+next stable release. This includes some or all of the API changes, promoting
+experimental modules to stable or deprecating and eliminating older modules
+from the last stable release. All of these choices are considered by the
+project as a group in the interests of promoting the stable release, so that
+any given change may be 'deferred' for a future release by the group, rather
+than introduce unacceptable risks to adopting the next stable release.
+
+Third party module authors are strongly encouraged to test with the latest
+development version. This assures that the module will be ready for the next
+stable release, but more importantly, the author can react to shortcomings
+in the API early enough to warn the dev@httpd.apache.org community of the
+shortcomings so that they can be addressed before the stable release. The
+entire burden is on the module author to anticipate the needs of their module
+before the stable release is created. Once a new stable release cycle has
+begun, that API will be present for the lifetime of the stable release. Any
+desired changes in the stable versions must wait for inclusion into the next
+release cycle.
+
+When deciding to promote a development tree to being stable, a determination
+should be made whether the changes since the last stable version warrant a
+major version bump. That is, if 2.2 is the current stable version and 2.3 is
+'ready' to become stable, the group needs to decide if the next stable
+version is 2.4 or 3.0. One suggested rule of thumb is that if it requires
+too much effort to port a module from 2.2 to 2.4, then the stable version
+should be labeled 3.0.
+
+In order to ease the burden of creating development releases, the process
+for packaging a development releases is less formal than for the stable
+release. This strategy reflects the fact that while in development, versions
+are cheap. Development releases may be classified as alpha, beta, or GA
+to reflect the group's perceived stability of the tree. Development releases
+may be made at any time by any committer.
+
+Please read the following link for a more detailed description of the
+development release strategy:
+
+http://httpd.apache.org/dev/release.html
projects / thirdparty / apache / httpd.git / commitdiff
