03/03: doc: Document the branching and rebuild scheduling strategy.

[Ludovic Courtès]

civodul pushed a commit to branch master
in repository guix.

commit 916b5eba0d5d1a80b5b67669506417ef9fefafb4
Author: Ludovic Courtès <address@hidden>
Date:   Sat May 13 22:24:51 2017 +0200

    doc: Document the branching and rebuild scheduling strategy.
    
    * doc/contributing.texi (Submitting Patches): Document the branching
    scheme.
---
 doc/contributing.texi | 27 ++++++++++++++++++++++++---
 1 file changed, 24 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/doc/contributing.texi b/doc/contributing.texi
index 8465745..925c584 100644
--- a/doc/contributing.texi
+++ b/doc/contributing.texi
@@ -345,9 +345,30 @@ For important changes, check that dependent package (if 
applicable) are
 not affected by the change; @code{guix refresh --list-dependent
 @var{package}} will help you do that (@pxref{Invoking guix refresh}).
 
-Packages with roughly 100 dependents or more usually have to be
-committed to a separate branch.  That branch can then be built
-separately by our build farm, and later merged into @code{master} once
address@hidden See 
<https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/guix-devel/2016-10/msg00933.html>.
address@hidden branching strategy
address@hidden rebuild scheduling strategy
+Depending on the number of dependent packages and thus the amount of
+rebuilding induced, commits go to different branches, along these lines:
+
address@hidden @asis
address@hidden 300 dependent packages or less
address@hidden branch (non-disruptive changes).
+
address@hidden between 300 and 1,200 dependent packages
address@hidden branch (non-disruptive changes).  This branch is intended
+to be merged in @code{master} every 3 weeks or so.  Topical changes
+(e.g., an update of the GNOME stack) can instead go to a specific branch
+(say, @code{gnome-updates}).
+
address@hidden more than 1,200 dependent packages
address@hidden branch (may include major and potentially disruptive
+changes).  This branch is intended to be merged in @code{master} every
+2.5 months or so.
address@hidden table
+
+All these branches are tracked by our build farm
+and merged into @code{master} once
 everything has been successfully built.  This allows us to fix issues
 before they hit users, and to reduce the window during which pre-built
 binaries are not available.