Policy

This page records policy decisions of the libraries mailing list.

When proposing policy changes, please coordinate with the steering committee.

Minor Versions API compatibility policy

• Bug fix only in minor releases

This means no api changes or additions in library packages and no new user-accessible features in programs. In terms of the PVP it means only the 4th digit may increment, eg X.Y.Z.0 -> X.Y.Z.1.

At the same time it was agreed:

• Change platform version numbers to follow the PVP

Having the platform following the PVP means the next minor release will be 2009.2.0.1 (rather than 2009.2.1) to indicate that it has (or more accurately it's constituents have) the exact same API as the previous major release. In general the version will be of the form "X.Y.0.Z" with "X.Y" being the major version and Z the minor.

See the new VersionNumbers scheme.

• 4 month major release cycles for the first 12 months

Initially using a 4 month major release cycle means we'll get one release before ghc 6.12 and another after (assuming 6.12 is released in November again).

• Review major release cycle frequency after 12 months

After 12 months we'll review (via this mailing list) the release cycle frequency based on the experience of 4 month release cycles and with input from HP users, HP package maintainers and HP release wranglers.

Mailing list threads where this was debated and agreed:

• discussion thread
• conclusion thread

Procedure for adding new packages

The procedure is documented here.

Mailing list threads where this was debated and agreed:

• initial proposal
• second round of feedback
• call for consensus