Propose to restart 1.22 release

[wxiaoguang]

The problem

1.22-rc0 is problematic:

• It is never really published, it is still in "draft" status on GitHub.
• Almost no bug report from 1.22-rc0, it's really questionable whether there are users using it.
• There are too many big changes in main branch, it would make it quite difficult to backport bug fixes for 1.22 in the future. And many bug fixes were missing due to various reasons.

Proposal

Drop 1.22-rc0 and 1.22 branch, restart the 1.22 release (1.22-rc1 and a new 1.22 branch) from main branch some time later.

Requirements

1. Pause unnecessary / pure refactoring changes before 1.22.1 or 1.22.2. A refactoring PR could only be merged in this period if:
   • It is for a bug fix and the refactoring is pretty good to have
   • It is well tested and good for some pending PRs, it should be covered by enough test cases
   • It could be backported from main to 1.22.x and doesn't seem to cause problems
   • (also could be slightly relaxed if enough maintainers/TOC agree)
2. Focus on fixing existing bugs and regressions

• Rename v1_23 migrations to v1_22
• Move merged PRs from 1.23 to 1.22 milestone
  • If a PR isn't in 1.22-legacy (no backport/done): move it to 1.22 milestone
  • If a PR is in 1.22-legacy: add "skip-changelog" to it and leave it in 1.23 milestone
• Close unnecessary legacy 1.22 backports
• Release 1.22-rc1 from main branch
  • rename old 1.22 branch to 1.22-legacy
  • tag 1.22-rc1
  • hard reset / force push 1.22 branch by main branch.

The TODO list is moved to #30731

• Prepare a new changelog (there are a lot of new changes)
• Prepare a release note and explain why, and tell users that 1.22-rc1 and later won't be able to downgrade to 1.22-rc0 (and they shouldn't because many bugs are only fixed in 1.22-rc1)
  • "There will be no impact to end users who are using 1.22-rc0, they could safely upgrade to 1.22-rc1 and get more bug fixes and new enhancements"
• Announce and encourage users to test the RC1 release.
• Release 1.22.0 in one week if rc1 is stable enough.

[silverwind]

There are too many big changes in main branch

There will always be big refactors and I don't want the release cycle to dictate when those can merge because that unnecessarily hinders progress.

So imho, get RC1 out now, and don't wait too long for release. Don't over-complicate the releases.

[wxiaoguang]

There are too many big changes in main branch

There will always be big refactors and I don't want the release cycle to dictate when those can merge because that unnecessarily hinders progress.

So imho, get RC1 out now, and don't wait too long for release. Don't over-complicate the releases.

I believe there are still many regressions, please provide stable releases to end users. RC release should be generally stable, but not contains many regressions or bugs.

[silverwind]

I believe there are still many regressions, please provide stable releases to end users

That's why we have a period of usually 2+ months from branch creation to release so that any regressions will be backported. If something does not get noticed in the period, it likely wasn't important enough.

[silverwind]

BTW I don't mind if we reset release/v1.22 to main now. It will make some of my backports easier.

[wxiaoguang]

It seems difficult to reach a consensus, please release manager and TOC decide.

[lunny]

Why did you close this? I think at least 3 of us agreed to do so.

[wxiaoguang]

Why did you close this? I think at least 3 of us agreed to do so.

If there is a consensus, then just do it. I think this issue won't provide any more useful information.

[silverwind]

I guess I remain neutral on this topic. I think 1.22 branch is shaping up well enough for a release, so no immediate need to "reset".

[wxiaoguang]

Another sample, 1.22 is broken for backporting: #30570 (comment)

[silverwind]

That's just us having missed another backport.

[silverwind]

@go-gitea/technical-oversight-committee we need a decision, either reset the v1.22 branch now or not. I don't care which way it chosen but I know @wxiaoguang has been withholding some backports into v1.22.