RELEASES.md: document the releases policy [ci skip]

This adds a file to document the policy on releases based on
the discussions taken place in the last face to face meeting.

https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/wikis/face2face-meeting-fosdem2019

Signed-off-by: Nikos Mavrogiannopoulos <nmav@gnutls.org>

diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 3a20170f6b46fcaf9e7c32ec3184093d5835270b..081d9f1b3efd18d1bd99c671dda8335f8bca5272 100644 (file)
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ should be introduced to enable the new behavior.
 When it is necessary, or desireable to enable the new features by default
 (e.g., TLS1.3 introduction), the "next" releases should be used (and
 introduced if necessary), to allow the modification to be tested for an
-extended amount of time.
+extended amount of time (see the [Release policy](RELEASES.md)).
 
 
 # API documentation

diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index ffcbc4ee5df18aa3ca1a880baa4a1c87019e9fdc..a352ca4dfc2394a70ab6f73e089bf580e204aa3e 100644 (file)
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ endif
 ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4 -I src/libopts/m4 -I src/gl/m4 -I lib/unistring/m4 --install
 
 EXTRA_DIST = cfg.mk maint.mk CONTRIBUTING.md README.md LICENSE AUTHORS NEWS \
-       ChangeLog THANKS INSTALL.md
+       ChangeLog THANKS INSTALL.md RELEASES.md
 
 DISTCLEANFILES = AUTHORS
 

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a834b7a931bf134949fe141e6550bcb25364591b..64ca34f99e479afa709bb9322a8b0f309abc896c 100644 (file)
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,11 +2,8 @@
 
 |Branch|CI system|Status|Coverage|
 |:----:|:-------:|-----:|:------:|
-|Master|Gitlab|[![build status](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/master/build.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/commits/master)|[![coverage report](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/master/coverage.svg)](https://gnutls.gitlab.io/coverage/master)|
-|Master|Travis|[![build status](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls)|N/A|
-|3.5.x|Gitlab|[![build status](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/gnutls_3_5_x/build.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/commits/gnutls_3_5_x)|[![coverage report](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/gnutls_3_5_x/coverage.svg)](https://gnutls.gitlab.io/coverage/3.5.x)|
-|3.5.x|Travis|[![build status](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls.svg?branch=gnutls_3_5_x)](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls)|N/A|
-|3.3.x|Gitlab|[![build status](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/gnutls_3_3_x/build.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/commits/gnutls_3_3_x)|N/A|
+|Master/3.6.x|Gitlab|[![build status](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/master/build.svg)](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/commits/master)|[![coverage report](https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/badges/master/coverage.svg)](https://gnutls.gitlab.io/coverage/master)|
+|Master/3.6.x|Travis|[![build status](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/gnutls/gnutls)|N/A|
 
 
 # GnuTLS -- Information for developers

diff --git a/RELEASES.md b/RELEASES.md
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..c0a840c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/RELEASES.md
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# Release policy
+
+In the GnuTLS project there are at most two ongoing releases, one marked as
+'stable' and one marked as 'next'. The former is always present and
+supported, while the latter is introduced on the discretion of the
+development team.
+
+For both release branches all the rules in [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md)
+apply, but in principle the 'stable' release is more conservative in new features,
+while the 'next' branch allows for mild behavioral changes. The 'stable' branch
+always provides API and ABI compatibility, while the 'next' branch may on exceptional
+cases change the API.
+
+
+|Branch|Version|Release interval|
+|:----:|:-----:|:--------------:|
+|stable|3.6.x  |bi-monthly      |
+|next  |-      |                |