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From: Damien Katz <damien@apache.org>
To: dev@couchdb.apache.org
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Subject: Re: changing branch commit merge block procedure
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 15:26:24 -0400
References: <e282921e0906011200v5e51e6ccud582de66fe8c8988@mail.gmail.com>


On Jun 1, 2009, at 3:00 PM, Chris Anderson wrote:

> Devs,
>
> We've talked some about discontinuing use of svn's merge/block
> procedure for maintaining old release branches, in favor just asking
> committers to remember to put applicable patches into the 0.9.x
> branch.

My experience is that by default, patches shouldn't be included in  
branches. The point of branches is to provide a an increasingly stable  
code base, so that users of the branch can get updates and upgrade  
with little fear the update will introduce a change in behavior or  
regression into their production systems.

Therefore, only patches that fix serious bugs (data loss, hangs) or  
regressions (features that worked in previous versions no longer work)  
should be considered for merging. Any patch that is merged back should  
be justifiable as to why it's important enough to risk destabilizing  
the branch.

I think idea that we need to track all the patches going into trunk  
and the branches, because we might forget an important patch. Yes, we  
might forget an important patch, but then we can simply apply to the  
next release of the branch if its that important. Rather than track  
all the patches for all branches, we should rely on the community to  
tells us what's an important patch and what is not.

-Damien

>
>
> There is discussion to be had about what patches are applicable to
> point release branches.
>
> Perspectives?
>
> Chris
>
> -- 
> Chris Anderson
> http://jchrisa.net
> http://couch.io