Re: [PATCH v1 3/4] docs: stable-kernel-rules: call mainline by its name and change example

[Thorsten Leemhuis <linux@leemhuis.info>]

On 11.04.24 08:10, Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 07:50:29AM +0200, Thorsten Leemhuis wrote:
>> On 11.04.24 07:30, Greg Kroah-Hartman wrote:
>>> On Thu, Apr 11, 2024 at 07:25:05AM +0200, Thorsten Leemhuis wrote:
>>>>  
>>>> -     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # after 4 weeks in mainline
>>>> +     Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # after 6 weeks in a stable mainline release
>>>
>>> I do not know what "stable mainline release" means here, sorry.  "after
>>> 4 weeks in mainline" means "after in Linus's tree for 4 weeks, but
>>> Linus's tree is not "stable mainline".
>>
>> I meant a proper mainline release like 6.7 or 6.8 to make it obvious
>> that this does not mean a "pre-release".
>>
>> I actually had used the term "proper mainline release" earlier in a
>> draft, but a quick search on the net showed that this is not really used
>> out there. "stable mainline release" is not popular either, but seemed
>> to be a better match; I also considered "final mainline release", but
>> that felt odd.
>>
>> It feels like there must be some better term my mind just stumbles to
>> come up with. Please help. :-D
> 
> Well, what is the goal here?  Just put it in words, I have seen stuff
> like:
> 	Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # wait until -rc3
> 	Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # wait until 6.1 is released
> 	Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org> # after -rc2
> 
> and so on.
> 
> Just pick a specific time/release might be better?  "after X weeks" is
> assuming that we all know and remember how many weeks something
> happened...

My reasoning was: a developer that submits a patch has no full control
over when the patch mainlined -- and plans sometimes change, too.

So a patch that was meant to go into 6.1-rc with a tag like "# wait
until 4 weeks after 6.1 is released" might only be mainlined for 6.2-rc1
-- and then the tag does not express the developers intention.

But that might be a corner case that we could ignore. So maybe "# wait
until 4 weeks after 6.1 is released" is the better example (from what
I've heard something like that is what developer would like to have
sometimes).

Ciao, Thorsten