====== Branching and Release Management Policy ======

There are usually two active branches at any given time:

  * The stable branch
  * The development branch

Release packages from stable and development branches are linked on the [[http://www.mantisbt.org|home page]].

Between releases, the latest code is always available from our [[http://sourceforge.net/svn/?group_id=14963|Subversion repository]]


===== Stable branch policy =====

The stable branch should receive only the most important bug fixes, so that:

  - The development resources are focused on development branch, avoiding porting efforts when possible.
  - The stable branch is kept __very stable__ and hence guarantee a safe upgrade path for everybody


For these reasons, we will fix on the stable branch the following kind of issues:

  * Bugs with category "security"
  * Critical bugs like deployment stoppers, blank screens, installation and upgrade issues
  * Bugs that are generating a lot of support requests

If unsure, feel free to ask on the mantisbt-dev mailing list


===== Development Branch Policy =====

The development branch (i.e. SVN trunk) is where all the "interesting" things happens; new features and bug fixes are usually applied here first, then tested and ported to the stable branch when deemed necessary.


Whenever the development branch reaches a state considered good enough for becoming the "stable" one, the following happens:

  * A new branch is created from SVN trunk
  * A release candidate (RC) is created off this new branch
  * The RC branch enters in a "feature freeze" mode (no new features added)
  * Testing and bug fixing continue on the RC branch until it can be declared stable


During feature freeze:

  * New features can still enter SVN trunk, but all developers are encouraged to help polishing the RC branch before focusing again on the development branch.
  * No official releases are composed from SVN trunk (that is, the soon-to-be development branch)
  * __ONLY CRITICAL FIXES__ are applied to the stable branch


At release time:

  * The RC branch becomes the new stable branch
  * Support ends for the old stable branch
  * Normal development resumes on SVN trunk