[dtp-dev] Updated policy for 1.6 M7 rampdown

[brian.fitzpatrick@xxxxxxxxxx]

Hi all...

Last week at the PMC meeting and this
week at the PMC/Team Leads meeting we discussed introducing a policy for
handling testing of milestone builds prior to the M7 release. This is an
attempt to to avoid last-minute regressions as we've seen at the end of
M6. Since release candidates are subject to the Rampdown Policy (listed
at http://wiki.eclipse.org/DTP_Ganymede_Rampdown_Policy), we're only concerned
about DTP 1.6M7 here. 

The new policy is as follows:

1. Commits for DTP 1.6 M7 will be allowed
through the build start time (5am Shanghai time as noted at http://wiki.eclipse.org/DTP_Build_Transition)
on Tuesday, April 29th by 1:30pm PST.

2. The testing period will start April
30 and last through May 2 so we are ready to push a build to the Ganymede
site on May 5.

3. Committers wishing to include additional
bug fixes in M7 between April 30 and May 2 must provide the following in
an associated Bugzilla entry:

* Document the severity and impact of
the bug, i.e. why should this be included in the milestone at such a late
date?
* Document the proposed resolution,
risk, and validation testing that will occur by the committer
* Petition the DTP PMC for permission
to deliver the change to the build. At least two (2) of the four (4) PMC
members must approve, with no PMC member objecting, for the bug to be authorized
for the M7 build.

If a change meets all of these criteria,
it can be delivered and we will continue testing with the next build that
includes that fix. 

Hopefully this is clear. We will be
adding this to the Ganymede Project Plan page also. 

If you have any questions about this
policy, please send them to the dtp mailing lists (dtp-pmc or dtp-dev).


Thanks for your time!
--Fitz

Brian Fitzpatrick
Eclipse Data Tools Platform PMC Chair (Acting)
Eclipse Data Tools Platform Connectivity Team Lead
Senior Software Engineer, Sybase, Inc.