[FFmpeg-devel] FFmpeg 7.0 blocking issues

[Sean McGovern]

On Mon, Jun 3, 2024, 17:32 Michael Niedermayer <michael at niedermayer.cc>
wrote:

> On Sun, Jun 02, 2024 at 03:49:42PM +0200, Sebastian Ramacher wrote:
> > On 2024-03-03 09:55:15 +0100, Sebastian Ramacher wrote:
> > > On 2024-03-02 20:39:08 -0500, Sean McGovern wrote:
> > > > On Sat, Mar 2, 2024, 18:19 Michael Niedermayer <
> michael at niedermayer.cc>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On Sun, Mar 03, 2024 at 12:06:14AM +0100, Sebastian Ramacher wrote:
> > > > > > On 2024-03-02 23:55:38 +0100, Michael Niedermayer wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tue, Jan 23, 2024 at 08:22:41PM +0100, Michael Niedermayer
> wrote:
> > > > > > > > Hi all
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > As it was a little difficult for me to not loose track of
> what is
> > > > > > > > blocking a release. I suggest that for all release blocking
> issues
> > > > > > > > open a ticket and set Blocking to 7.0
> > > > > > > > that way this:
> > > > > > > > https://trac.ffmpeg.org/query?blocking=~7.0
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > or for the ones not closed:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > >
> https://trac.ffmpeg.org/query?status=new&status=open&status=reopened&blocking=~7.0
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > will list all blocking issues
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Ive added one, for testing that, i intend to add more if i
> see
> > > > > something
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > What is blocking? (IMHO)
> > > > > > > > * regressions (unless its non possible to fix before release)
> > > > > > > > * crashes
> > > > > > > > * security issues
> > > > > > > > * data loss
> > > > > > > > * privacy issues
> > > > > > > > * anything the commuity agrees should be in the release
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > We still have 3 blocking issues on trac
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > do people want me to wait or ignore them and branch ?
> > > > > > > Iam not sure when the exact deadline is but if we keep waiting
> > > > > > > we will not get into ubuntu 24.04 LTS
> > > > > >
> > > > > > 24.04 is past feature freeze, so it's too late for that.
> > > > >
> > > > > we should aim earlier in the future then.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > > LTS is only every 2 years, yes?
> > >
> > > Yes
> > >
> > > > How do we make sure this doesn't happen in 2026? How much of a gap
> is there
> > > > between feature freeze and release?
> > >
> > > Not involved in Ubuntu, so that's from past experience: feature
> > > freeze is usually about two months before the release.
> > >
> > > So here's the catch: Debian's timeline also needs to be taken into
> > > account. If the ffmpeg release does not involve the removal of
> deprecated API and
> > > a SONAME bump, then the time from ffmpeg to release to upload to Debian
> > > unstable and then import in Ubuntu is short. In this case, I am sure
> > > that I could convince Ubuntu maintainers to import it even during
> > > feature freeze.
> > >
> > > But with SONAME bumps and changes in the API, it takes a lot more time
> > > to work through the high number of ffmpeg reverse dependencies. In that
> > > case, plan a release at least 6 months before an Ubuntu LTS release.
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > We usually have to rely on upstream maintainers to adopt to the
> > > changes and that take times. Many moons ago Anton helped with providing
> > > patches, but for the last couple of API changes it took some months
> from
> > > "dear maintainer, here is ffmpeg X for testing, please fix the build of
> > > your package" to actually doing all uploads and rebuilds. For example,
> > > the transition to ffmpeg 6.0 was started in July 2023 and was done in
> > > December 2023.
> >
> > Just as a FYI: ffmpeg 7.0 breaks close to 70 reverse dependencies in
> > Debian. The list is available at [1]. So if you want ffmpeg X to be in
> > Debian Y or Ubuntu Z, X needs to be released at least half a year before
> > Y or Z freeze.
>
> Is there something that ffmpeg can do to reduce this breakage ?
> (i know its a bit of a lame question as its API brekages but i mean
> can the policy we have about deprecating API/ABI be amended in some way
> to make this easier ?
>
> Also am i correct that it should be easier if a X.1 with same API/ABI that
> is
> released 6 month after X.0 is targetet for the release ? Thats in fact kind
> of what i would have preferred anyway as the .1 likely has also fewer bugs
>
> And last but not least, someone needs to write down when .0 and .1
> releases should
> be made so I dont forget it :)
>
> thx
>
> [...]
>
> --
> Michael     GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB
>
> Nations do behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
> -- Abba Eban
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There are so many downstreams that this is probably a fool's errand.

-- Sean McGovern

>