pkgsrc Release
Engineering: the work
behind the scenes

Lubomir Sedlacik

The NetBSD Project

Agenda

• What is pkgsrc Releng?
• What are stable branches?
• What is a pullup?
• Releng workflow
• Common issues
• Future
• Questions

What is pkgsrc Releng?

A group of people who
• manage stable branches
• processes pullups
• and schedule freeze periods.

Stable branches, you say?

• stability over new features
• get only security and critical fixes
• branched quarterly
• tree frozen before branch

• write access to the tree is restricted

Pullup?

A process of "pulling up" changes from HEAD to the stable branch.
• requested by a developer
• follows fixed guidelines
• stored in a ticket

The Theory

Important fix is committed,
• developer requests a pullup
• new ticket arrives
• ticket is examined, checked for completness
• patches are applied
• compile tested
• changes committed
• originator notified
• ticket closed

The Reality.. (1)

• untested changes requested
• patches don't apply cleanly
• inconsistences detected

• lather, rinse, repeat..

The reality.. (2)

Changes often lag because:
• developers forget to request pullups
• even for security related changes..
• releng members can't process own tickets

• lack of manpower