Unmanaged Project Milestones and Communication

Recently the transportPCE project ran into an issue with dependencies in Flourine and getting the work done to be part of the flourine distribution. It led to a discussion of how project changes are communicated and the overall timeline.

The below description is for discussion of the problem and to generate possible solutions for Unmanaged Projects. Some of the passionate participants are on vacation this week so input might be limited.

Here is a set of topics/questions for dicussion based on that experience and the managed-release process

https://docs.opendaylight.org/en/stable-oxygen/release-process/managed-release.html (couldnt find a Flourine form)

1. The current release plan has very few requirements on Unmanaged Projects so that the load on them is very small.
2. As long as the project has its integration references in place “one week before RC0” they would be part of the distribution.
3. Unmanaged projects still have to do a repo:add to actually be installed in an instance but otherwise are packaged with the rest of the projects.
4. Note that RC0 isnt defined in the release process page referenced on the wiki

1. The Project Timeline does not provide any guidance on how Managed Project changes would be communicated to the Unmanaged projects
2. The Major Milestones of:
3. CSIT Checkpoint
4. Middle Checkpoint
5. Code Freeze
6. Final Checkpoint

1. It would seem that there aught to be a checkpoint with the Unmanaged Projects that are trying to be part of the release at the Middle checkpoint to check on Managed Project Dependencies
2. When Managed Projects do analysis for code impacts there should be a project to request unmanaged project feedback or at least notification.
3. A JIRA ticket might make the most sense for targeted changes but for something like removing model’s as was the issue in Flourine might need a reminder on a weather page or something other than an email

1. Unmanaged Projects are dependent on changes to underlying API’s and models in many cases so waiting till the last week before RC0 is not sufficient.
2. In those case, the Unmanaged Projects should have a check point where they can find out about API and Model changes that affect them and to plan accordingly.

1. Unmanaged Projects in theory can make releases after the formal release but there is nothing in the release timeline
2. Should Unmanaged Projects have a specific X weeks after SR0 for their final integration against the Managed Project Base ?
3. Should Unmanaged Projects have a specific checkpoint at Middle checkpoint to self identify that they want to be included and thus to be engaged in any API/Model changes in advance of Code Freeze ?