[asterisk-dev] Proposal for DAHDI-trunk: deprecate old kernels

[Andrew Latham]

On Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 2:42 PM, Oron Peled <oron.peled at xorcom.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Currently there's no policy for deprecating support for old kernels
> in DAHDI-linux, so we have all kinds of code monstrosities to
> support anything from prehistoric kernels (2.6.8/9) to the latest
> and greatest.
>
> I'd like to propose a general policy and then derive a specific
> case for the near future.
>
> 1. General kernel deprecation policy:
>
>   * Stable DAHDI branches (no change from current practices):
>     - Newer kernels are supported as long as the branch is
>       supported. Obviously, after that it's in deep freeze.
>
>     - No deprecation of old kernels. What worked before,
>       would continue to work even if it is used on a very
>       old "Enterprise" distro.
>
>   * Trunk - Latest kernels are always supported
>
>   * Trunk - Old kernels:
>     - A deprecation means output a NOTICE(), but still have
>       the code to support the old kernel
>
>     - Support removal happens when we decide to remove the
>       old code that support building DAHDI-linux on old kernels.
>       [bloat removal...]
>
>     - Fast paced distros should be always supported by trunk
>       (Fedora, Debian-testing, Ubuntu, OpenSuse, name your favorite).
>       These distributions have a kernel life-cycle that is short
>       and therefore does not impose maintenance problems for DAHDI-linux.
>
>     - Kernels for current Stable/"Enterprise" distros would be fully
>       supported.
>
>     - Kernels for previous Stable/"Enterprise" distros would be
>       deprecated (remember, only on trunk).
>
>     - After the next DAHDI-linux stable release, the support code
>       for the deprecated versions would be removed from our trunk.
>       [yes, those ugly #ifdefs]
>
> 2. Let's try to apply this to the near future. As mentioned
>   before, we can safely ignore fast paced distros and focus
>   only on Stable/"Enterprise"/LTS distros.
>
>   * RHEL/Centos:
>     - References:
>         https://access.redhat.com/support/policy/updates/errata/
>     - Current version: RHEL-6.x (kernel 2.6.32)
>     - Deprecated version: RHEL-5.x (kernel 2.6.18)
>     - Older version: RHEL-4.x (kernel 2.6.9)
>       [End of Regular Life Cycle - 29-Feb-2012]
>
>   * Suse SLES:
>     - References:
>         http://www.novell.com/linux/releasenotes/i586/SUSE-SLES/11-SP1
>         http://wiki.novell.com/index.php/Kernel_versions
>         http://support.novell.com/lifecycle
>
>     - Current version: SLES-11 (kernel 2.6.32)
>     - Deprecated version: SLES-10 (kernel 2.6.16)
>       [End of General Support - 12-Apr-2011]
>
>   * Debian-stable:
>     - References:
>         http://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases
>         http://wiki.debian.org/Status/Stable
>         http://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/2011/msg00238.html
>     - Current version: Debian-6.0.x "Squeeze" (kernel 2.6.26)
>     - Deprecated version: Debian-5.0.x "Lenny" (kernel 2.6.32)
>       [End Of Life - 2-Feb-2012]
>
>   * Ubuntu-LTS:
>     - References:
>         https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS
>         https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases
>         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ubuntu_releases
>     - Current LTS version: 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" (kernel 2.6.32)
>     - Deprecated version: 8.04 "Hardy Heron" (kernel 2.6.24)
>       [End Of Life (server) - Apr-2013]
>
> 3. Proposed timeline:
>   * After DAHDI-2.6/2.5 release:
>     Mark 2.6.8/2.6.9 kernel workarounds as deprecated in
>     our trunk. They are only used by RHEL/Centos-4 and
>     Debian-Etch (before oldstable=="lenny")
>
>   * 29-Feb-2012:
>     Can drop RHEL-4 support from trunk. At that time the oldest
>     kernel to support would be 2.6.18 (RHEL-5.x)
>     [good bye 2.6.8/2.6.9 quirks]
>
>   * After DAHDI-2.7:
>     Can mark 2.6.18 workarounds as deprecated (in our trunk).
>     At that time the oldest (non-deprecated) kernels to support
>     would be 2.6.24 (Ubuntu-8.04).
>
>   * After DAHDI-2.8:
>     Drop support for 2.6.18 kernels.
>
>   * etc...
>
> 4. Now who did I forget to take in account? Let the flames begin ;-)
>
> Bye,
>
> --
> Oron Peled                                 Voice: +972-4-8228492
> oron at actcom.co.il                  http://users.actcom.co.il/~oron
> Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that
> created them.
>                 -- A. Einstein
>

I like the direction you suggest.  Maybe the best thing to do is start
a section on the wiki for DAHDI....  That would help a lot of people.


-- 
~ Andrew "lathama" Latham lathama at gmail.com http://lathama.net ~