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Update commit policy for stable release branches #86026

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zimbatm merged 1 commit into from
Apr 26, 2020
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Update commit policy for stable release branches #86026

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48 changes: 36 additions & 12 deletions doc/contributing/submitting-changes.xml
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -407,23 +407,47 @@ Additional information.
<section xml:id="submitting-changes-stable-release-branches">
<title>Stable release branches</title>

<itemizedlist>
<para>
For cherry-picking a commit to a stable release branch (<quote>backporting</quote>), use <literal>git cherry-pick -x &lt;original commit&gt;</literal> so that the original commit id is included in the commit.
</para>

<para>
Add a reason for the backport by using <literal>git cherry-pick -xe &lt;original commit&gt;</literal> instead when it is not obvious from the original commit message. It is not needed when it’s a minor version update that includes security and bug fixes but don’t add new features or when the commit fixes an otherwise broken package.
</para>

<para>
Here is an example of a cherry-picked commit message with good reason description:
</para>

<screen>
zfs: Keep trying root import until it works

Works around #11003.

(cherry picked from commit 98b213a11041af39b39473906b595290e2a4e2f9)

Reason: several people cannot boot with ZFS on NVMe
</screen>

<para>
Other examples of reasons are:
</para>

<itemizedlist spacing="compact">
<listitem>
<para>
If you're cherry-picking a commit to a stable release branch (“backporting”), always use <command>git cherry-pick -xe</command> and ensure the message contains a clear description about why this needs to be included in the stable branch.
Previously the build would fail due to, e.g., <literal>getaddrinfo</literal> not being defined
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
An example of a cherry-picked commit would look like this:
The previous download links were all broken
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Crash when starting on some X11 systems
</para>
<screen>
nixos: Refactor the world.

The original commit message describing the reason why the world was torn apart.

(cherry picked from commit abcdef)
Reason: I just had a gut feeling that this would also be wanted by people from
the stone age.
</screen>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</section>
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