RTEMS Release Snapshots

Fri Nov 1 23:01:29 UTC 2019

On Fri, Nov 1, 2019 at 12:53 PM Gedare Bloom <gedare at rtems.org> wrote:

> Hi Chris et al.,
>
> On Thu, Oct 31, 2019 at 12:50 AM Chris Johns <chrisj at rtems.org> wrote:
> >
> > Hello,
> >
> > I would like to announce the start of release snapshots from the master
> branch.
> > A release snapshot will be created on the first day of each month. These
> are
> > development snapshots so they can be unstable.
> >
> Thank you for taking this initiative, and I hope these are of only
> incremental cost for you to produce.
>
> When you say unstable, you mean they are not recommended for use in
> baselining production for user projects, right?
>

We would always prefer users to use "real releases" for products but we
haven't had enough in recent years. This has effectively forced users to
baseline from the git master. So yes, we would prefer and recommend
that users avoid using non-release versions in production.

The purpose of the snapshots are at least to

(1) ensure that mechanics of the release process work. For example,
Sebastian noticed that the rtems-libbsd for this snapshot is cut from
master, not the correct branch. There may also be bugs in inserting
the correct version number, collecting all the files etc.

(2) Give users something to test on their hardware and report back.
We need this feedback.

Chris and I hope that based on testing of the snapshots and git master,
we will reduce the issues to the point where we reach a point that we
say "snapshot X looks great, let's have a formal release" and that's
largely it.

This is part of a holistic effort to improve our processes and feedback.

Hopefully users see value in it and help by testing, volunteering to
help implement, and contributing funding for needed infrastructure
and core developers to work on these RTEMS process issues.

>
> What about their availability? How long will each release snapshot
> remain hosted by RTEMS Project for public consumption?
>

Chris and I haven't discussed that. He may have thoughts.

As reference, GCC snapshots appear to be available for about a year with
all removed and replaced by one final snapshot as a branch closes (at least
that's what it looks like).

I don't want to keep them available **publicly** forever. There is a
tendency for people
to mirror an entire ftp tree and this just puts load on our server
infrastructure for
near zero value.

>
> > An announce email will be posted to user at rtems.org and devel at rtems.org
> with a
> > link to the release files. The release snapshot's build results will be
> posted
> > to build at rtems.org list and viewable in it's archive.
> >
> > Please download, test and post your results. Your feedback is welcomed
> and
> > valuable to us as maintainer as well as the community.
> >
> > Snapshots
> > ---------
> >
> > Release snapshots provide feedback to us about the state of a release as
> > development happens. Releasing is a complicated process and it can break
> and rot
> > if it is not run regularly. Release snapshot are part of our attempt to
> address
> > this problem and to improve the overall quality of RTEMS releases.
> >
> > Testing
> > -------
> >
> > There has been a lot of work in past few years to improve the testing of
> RTEMS.
> > We would welcome your feedback. The best way to provide feedback is to
> post
> > build results from your preferred host or post tests results for your
> BSP. The
> > commands you use to build and test have a --mail option and they will
> post the
> > results. The build mailing list is used to collect these results. You can
> > subscribe here:
> >
> >  https://lists.rtems.org/mailman/listinfo/build
> >
> > If you need help posting build or test results please ask.
> >
> > Tiers
> > -----
> >
> > RTEMS has a tier structure for BSPs to help us know the state of a BSP
> [1]. We
> > have test results for some hardware and we would love to have more. At
> some
> > point we will automatically collect the posted test results and create a
> "score
> > board" to rank BSPs. For this to work and be of real value we need
> posted test
> > results. You think this sound complicated to do but it is not that
> difficult and
> > what it gives you and the community is really valuable.
> >
> I strongly encourage anyone with interest in a particular BSP to step
> forward if willing to help in this vital effort at improving the
> quality of RTEMS releases for that BSP. I'm a little worried that
> these important notes about testing and tiers are being lost in the
> announcement about release snapshots. For a robust RTEMS release
> across a wide range of the targets, we definitely need some willing
> stakeholders from the user community to volunteer!
>
> > Thanks
> > Chris
> >
> Thank you,
> Gedare
>
> > [1] Tiers
> > https://docs.rtems.org/branches/master/user/hardware/tiers.html
> > _______________________________________________
> > users mailing list
> > users at rtems.org
> > http://lists.rtems.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> _______________________________________________
> users mailing list
> users at rtems.org
> http://lists.rtems.org/mailman/listinfo/users
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.rtems.org/pipermail/users/attachments/20191101/e90ddfac/attachment.html>