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<!DOCTYPE bugzilla SYSTEM "https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/page.cgi?id=bugzilla.dtd">

<bugzilla version="5.0.6"
          urlbase="https://bugzilla.yoctoproject.org/"
          
          maintainer="it-coreprojects-helpdesk@linuxfoundation.org"
>

    <bug>
          <bug_id>15979</bug_id>
          
          <creation_ts>2025-09-25 08:33:05 +0000</creation_ts>
          <short_desc>Document the development phases (M1-4, feature freeze, ...)</short_desc>
          <delta_ts>2026-01-20 14:23:09 +0000</delta_ts>
          <reporter_accessible>1</reporter_accessible>
          <cclist_accessible>1</cclist_accessible>
          <classification_id>9</classification_id>
          <classification>Documentation</classification>
          <product>Development Manual</product>
          <component>development</component>
          <version>unspecified</version>
          <rep_platform>x86</rep_platform>
          <op_sys>Multiple</op_sys>
          <bug_status>RESOLVED</bug_status>
          <resolution>FIXED</resolution>
          
          
          <bug_file_loc></bug_file_loc>
          <status_whiteboard></status_whiteboard>
          <keywords></keywords>
          <priority>Medium+</priority>
          <bug_severity>minor</bug_severity>
          <target_milestone>6.0 M2</target_milestone>
          
          
          <everconfirmed>1</everconfirmed>
          <reporter name="Yoann Congal">yoann.congal</reporter>
          <assigned_to name="Antonin Godard">antonin.godard</assigned_to>
          <cc>randy.macleod</cc>
    
    <cc>sjolley.yp.pm</cc>
          
          
          <cf_os>---</cf_os>
          <cf_regression_type>---</cf_regression_type>
          
          <cf_docchange>Yes (doc changes required)</cf_docchange>

      

      

      

          <comment_sort_order>oldest_to_newest</comment_sort_order>  
          <long_desc isprivate="0" >
    <commentid>102814</commentid>
    <comment_count>0</comment_count>
    <who name="Yoann Congal">yoann.congal</who>
    <bug_when>2025-09-25 08:33:05 +0000</bug_when>
    <thetext>The fact that there is a feature freeze before release is not obvious in the docs.
Documenting that :
* may help occasional contributor understand why their patch is not merged
* provide a reference to explain to a contributor to wait for the next release cycle

The most approaching doc I could find is https://docs.yoctoproject.org/test-manual/test-process.html#release-builds but just mention &quot;usually four milestones&quot; and not &quot;feature freeze&quot;.</thetext>
  </long_desc><long_desc isprivate="0" >
    <commentid>102816</commentid>
    <comment_count>1</comment_count>
    <who name="Antonin Godard">antonin.godard</who>
    <bug_when>2025-09-25 09:00:49 +0000</bug_when>
    <thetext>Agreed, I think it could be part of https://docs.yoctoproject.org/ref-manual/release-process.html.

Just to be sure I understand correctly:

- Each release is a 6-month cycle.
- Each release has four milestone. There is no definitive date on when milestones are released.
- After M3, we enter feature freeze, meaning new features are not introduced until after the _next_ release (and so not even after M4).

I&apos;m not sure to grasp what the difference between M4 and the new tagged release is. Is the time between M4 and the tagged release used for QA/testing?

If that is true, does the following apply?

- There is no definitive date on when a new release is tagged. It depends on whether every tests have passed QA.</thetext>
  </long_desc><long_desc isprivate="0" >
    <commentid>103697</commentid>
    <comment_count>2</comment_count>
    <who name="Antonin Godard">antonin.godard</who>
    <bug_when>2026-01-05 16:08:03 +0000</bug_when>
    <thetext>I&apos;ve sent a patch to document this:
https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260105-release-process-v1-1-6b84d409718c@bootlin.com</thetext>
  </long_desc><long_desc isprivate="0" >
    <commentid>103971</commentid>
    <comment_count>3</comment_count>
    <who name="Antonin Godard">antonin.godard</who>
    <bug_when>2026-01-20 14:23:09 +0000</bug_when>
    <thetext>Patch merged, closing
https://git.yoctoproject.org/yocto-docs/commit/?id=77c04cc5944acda7575546a7434e014e4a75ba58</thetext>
  </long_desc>
      
      

    </bug>

</bugzilla>