Open Stack

Development Focus
-----------------

Work on libraries should be wrapping up, in preparation for the various
library-related deadlines coming up. Now is a good time to make decisions
on deferring feature work to the next development cycle in order to be
able to focus on finishing already-started feature work.

General Information
-------------------

We are now getting close to the end of the cycle, and will be gradually
freezing feature work on the various deliverables that make up the
OpenStack release.

This coming week is the deadline for general libraries (except client
libraries): their last feature release needs to happen before "Non-client
library freeze" on September 3. Only bugfix releases will be allowed
beyond this point.

When requesting those library releases, you can also include the
stable/victoria branching request with the review (as an example, see the
"branches" section here:
https://opendev.org/openstack/releases/src/branch/master/deliverables/pike/os-brick.yaml#n2

In the next weeks we will have deadlines for:

* Client libraries (think python-*client libraries), which need to have
   their last feature release before "Client library freeze" (Sept 10)

* Deliverables following a cycle-with-rc model (that would be most
  services), which observe a Feature freeze on that same date, Sept 10.
  Any feature addition beyond that date should be discussed on the
  mailing-list and get PTL approval.

As we are getting to the point of creating stable/victoria branches, this
would be a good point for teams to review membership in their
victoria-stable-maint groups. Once the stable/victoria branches are cut
for a repo, the ability to approve any necessary backports into those
branches for Victoria will be limited to the members of that stable team.
If there are any questions about stable policy or stable team membership,
please reach out in the #openstack-stable channel.

Upcoming Deadlines & Dates
--------------------------

Non-client library freeze: September 3 (R-6 week)
Client library freeze: September 10 (R-5 week)
Victoria-3 milestone: September 10 (R-5 week)
Cycle Highlights Due: September 10 (R-5 week)
Victoria release: October 14