From Fedora Project Wiki

Alpha PowerPC Objectives

The objectives of the Alpha PowerPC release are to:

  1. Publicly release installable media versions of a feature complete test release for Architectures/PowerPC shortly following the primary architecture release date
  2. Test accepted features of Fedora 16
  3. Identify as many f16Betappc blocker bugs as possible
  4. Identify as many f16Blockerppc blocker bugs as possible


Alpha PowerPC Release Requirements

In order to be released to the general public, a compose must meet all of the following criteria. This is intended to make the decision process as clear and straightforward as possible. Mostly met items are incomplete until they are met. Optional and nice to have items should not be included in this list.

There may be times where a requirement is unmet only in a particular configuration, such as with some keyboard layouts but not others, or if a particular character is used in a username, password or passphrase. In such cases, the release team should use their judgement and refer to precedent to determine whether or not the issue should be considered to block the release. They should consider the number of users likely to be affected by the issue, the severity of the case when the issue is encountered, and the ease or otherwise with which the issue can be avoided by both informed and uninformed users.

The term release-blocking desktops means all the desktop environments in which bugs are currently considered capable of blocking a Fedora release. The current set of release-blocking desktops for x86_64 is GNOME and KDE, and for aarch64 is GNOME. Note that bugs in desktops that are not part of this set which would infringe these criteria automatically qualify for freeze exception status, according to the freeze exception bug process.

The term release-blocking images means all the images in which bugs are currently considered capable of blocking a Fedora release. The current set of release-blocking images includes the images defined by the three Editions - Server, Workstation and IoT - in their product requirement documents and/or technical specifications, the Everything network install image, key Cloud images, and the KDE live image. The canonical list of release-blocking images for Fedora 42 is on this page.


  1. All bugs blocking the Alpha PowerPC tracker must be CLOSED
  2. There must be no file conflicts (cases where the files in some packages conflict but the packages have explicit Conflicts: tags are acceptable) or unresolved package dependencies during a media-based (DVD) install
  3. Where platform support exists, all dedicated installer images (except efidisk.img, which offers no options) must boot to the graphical boot menu and allow the user to select install options. If no option is selected, the installer should load after a reasonable timeout
  4. The installer must boot (if appropriate) and run from default live image (if appropriate), DVD, and boot.iso install media
  5. The boot menu for all installation images should include an entry which causes both installation and the installed system to use a generic, highly compatible video driver (such as 'vesa'). This mechanism should work correctly, launching the installer and attempting to use the generic driver
  6. The installer must be able to use at least one of the HTTP or FTP remote package source options
  7. When booting from a DVD ISO image, the installer must be able to use the DVD local package source options
  8. The installer must be able to complete an installation using the text, graphical and VNC installation interfaces
  9. The installer must be able to complete package installation with the default package set for each supported installation method
  10. The installer must be able to complete an installation using any locally connected storage interface (e.g. PATA, SATA, SCSI etc...) with the default file system
  11. The installer must be able to complete an installation using the entire disk, existing free space, or existing Linux partitions methods, with or without encryption enabled
  12. The rescue mode of the installer must start successfully and be able to detect and mount an existing default installation
  13. The installer must be able to report failures to Bugzilla, with appropriate information included
  14. In most cases (see Blocker_Bug_FAQ), a system installed according to any of the above criteria (or the appropriate Beta or Final criteria, when applying this criterion to those releases) must boot to the 'firstboot' utility on the first boot after installation, without unintended user intervention. This includes correctly accessing any encrypted partitions when the correct passphrase is supplied. The firstboot utility must be able to create a working user account
  15. Following on from the previous criterion, after firstboot is completed and on subsequent boots, a system installed according to any of the above criteria (or the appropriate Beta or Final criteria, when applying this criterion to those releases) must boot to a working graphical environment without unintended user intervention. This includes correctly accessing any encrypted partitions when the correct passphrase is supplied
  16. When booting a system installed without a graphical environment, or when using a correct configuration setting to cause an installed system to boot in non-graphical mode, the system should boot to a state where it is possible to log in through at least one of the default virtual consoles
  17. It must be possible to run the default web browser and a terminal application from all release-blocking desktop environments. The web browser must be able to download files, load extensions, and log into FAS
  18. The installed system must be able to download and install updates with yum and the default graphical package manager in all release-blocking desktops
  19. The default Fedora artwork must either refer to the current Fedora release under development (Fedora 16), or reference an interim release milestone (e.g. Alpha or Beta). If a release version number is used, it must match the current Fedora release under development. This includes artwork used in the installer, graphical bootloader menu, firstboot, graphical boot, graphical login and desktop background.
  20. A system logging infrastructure must be available and enabled by default. It must provide at least basic local file-based logging of kernel messages, and allow other components to write log messages. This must be done in accordance with relevant standards accepted by the Project



Alpha PowerPC Blocker Bugs

A bug is considered a Alpha PowerPC blocker bug if any of the following criteria are met:

A Fedora Change being incomplete, in and of itself, does not constitute a blocker bug. The Change process is separate from this process. Changes are required to meet certain standards at certain points of the release cycle, but this is part of the Change process and managed, tracked and enforced separately from this process. However, if a proposed feature being incomplete causes any of the above criteria to be met, then the bug is a release blocker.


Contingency Plan

  • If all of the Alpha PowerPC Release Requirements are not met, the Fedora PowerPC release cannot be released. Since Fedora PowerPC does not impact the release of primary architectures, no schedule delays are necessary.
  • Consult the Architectures/PowerPC for information on where release discussion takes place

Confirming Alpha Requirements

The Architectures/PowerPC SIG has the responsibility of determining whether the criteria for the release has been met (as outlined above) through consultation with Development, Release Engineering and QA. Consult the Architectures/PowerPC for information on where findings are reviewed and discussed.

Related Pages


Retrieved from "https://fedoraproject.org/w/index.php?title=User:Jlaska/Draft_Fedora_16_Alpha_PowerPC_Release_Criteria&oldid=246687"