[Starlingx-discuss] Starlingx Release 3 (stx.3.0) Timeline Proposal

[Khalil, Ghada]

Hello all,
The proposed dates for Starlingx Release 3 (stx.3.0) are now available based on the openstack train dates.  The current proposal is to lag train by 6wks for the earlier milestones (MS-1, MS-2, MS-3) and 7wks for the later ones (RC1 & Release) . Based on the recommendation during the Denver PTG, we will move to time-based releases.

The dates are available at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZFR-9-riwhIwiBYBmWmi1qOVyHtgJ8Xk_FaF2jp5rY0/edit#gid=0

		train		stx.3.0 (tentative)
Milestone-1	6/5/2019	7/17/2019
Milestone-2	7/24/2019	9/4/2019
Milestone-3	9/11/2019	10/16/2019
Feature Test			10/16/2019
Regression Test			11/6/2019
RC1		9/25/2019	11/13/2019
Final Regression			11/27/2019
Release		10/16/2019	12/4/2019


The proposed dates will result in overlap between stx.2.0 and stx.3.0. 
- Concerns w/ stx.3.0 features merging in master while stx.2.0 is nearing release (RC branch creation for stx.2.0 is Aug 5)
- Stability is a main concern
       - How do we ensure stability is not impacted?
       - Promote/Foster a culture of stability on mainline. Communicate to the community.
       - More reliance on automation to catch issues earlier.
       - Less focus on feature content and more focus on stability / project adoption
- End-user visible impact (due to new features) is another concern                                                                                                                                                                                                
- Resourcing Contention is another concern
       - for both development and test, but especially for test
- Mitigation Options:
       - Ask developers to work on feature branches for stx.3.0; only allow benign feature code to merge before stx.2.0 RC1
       - Implement "limited" merge windows x weeks prior to stx.2.0 RC1  (w/ clear guidance to the cores on what code to merge during those periods)
       - Create the stx.2.0 RC branch earlier than currently planned. Cost of cherry-picks need to be discussed/quantified.



Please take some time to review the above and provide your feedback.
Once we receive some feedback, we'll work with the community on next steps to define content and develop plans.

Regards,
Ghada (on behalf of the stx release team)