On Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 01:31:33PM -0800, smith wrote:
> OpenBSD developers add code and fix bugs using a program called CVS.  CVS has
> the ability to create branches like a tree.  The main tree trunk is -current.

>  After a certain amount of time, usually a couple of months before the release
> date, a branch is created called 4.1.  This branch is frozen, meaning that no
> new features will go in but bugs will be fixed.  When release date comes,
> every six months, they take the 4.1 branch on that day and mark it as the
> release.  Then they make CD's from the release.  Keep in mind that this
> release day is not the same as the day it's released to the public because the
> developers need time to create the cd's.  From the 4.1 branch, fixes are added
> whether they are bugs or reliability fixes; this is referred to as 4.1-stable.

Heh. You mostly got it. One big difference: the branch is not created before
the release. Rather, development slows down, the release is built, cd are
prep'ped,  and the tagging/branch is made at that point.

>  There are many fixes in 4.1-stable so only the important and critical ones
> appear in the errata.  

Actually, there are not that many fixes in 4.1-stable, most of it shows it
as errata for source, and new packages for ports.

> -current is still the main tree trunk; this is the code
> where developers "develop".  
Yep, most developers track -current, all the time.

> 4.1-stable is where developers "maintain". 

Very important bug-fixes end up being backported to the branch, and usually
to the previous release as well.

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