Ignoring the freeze process and introducing new packages anyway can result in your package being reverted or reduce the chances of receiving an exception
FIXME: make sure we spell out what is special or different about Alpha freeze vs. Beta or Final freeze
- The purpose of the Alpha freeze is to stop changes to Critical Path packages (need link) so there is adequate time to prepare and test the Alpha release before making it publicly available.
- Development builds of packages can continue, however they will not be included in the test release unless you request a break of the freeze for your build.
- New packages can still be reviewed, added in CVS and built
Requesting an Exception
If believe there is a good reason for you to break the Alpha freeze, submit a request for approval to do so by filing a Release Engineering Ticket. Please include the following information:
- A description of what you want to change
- Rationale for why the change is important enough to be allowed in after the freeze
- Impact of *not* accepting the change at this point of the schedule
- Amount of testing you have performed to mitigate the risk of this change
Exception Evaluation
The Release Engineering team will evaluate your request and provide feedback.
- Approval comes in the form of +1's (meaning Yes or I approve).
- Two +1's (without any negative feedback or -1's) are necessary to build. If there is negative feedback, conversation will ensue and a new vote will be taken.
If your request is denied, your package will not appear in Rawhide until the freeze ends. If you disagree with Release Engineering's decision you may enter an appeal with FESCo. To start the appeals process with FESCo create a ticket with FESCo.
Once the Alpha freeze has lifted (near the time the Alpha release is made public) changes will be allowed without special request. We still ask that you keep your changes to bugfix in nature to preserve the stability of the release as we work and test towards the final release.