Clarify positioning of extended stable and security merges
We've had some questions from developers as well as embedders re: our merge policies for security issues in the extended stable channel; this update helps clarify our stance. Change-Id: I3aa5aa3a7c92ad174d15b3fe2ae99439f3009ea8 Reviewed-on: https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/3258621 Auto-Submit: Alex Mineer <amineer@chromium.org> Reviewed-by: Adrian Taylor <adetaylor@chromium.org> Commit-Queue: Alex Mineer <amineer@chromium.org> Cr-Commit-Position: refs/heads/main@{#938550}
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@ -266,8 +266,8 @@ Chromium Dash [front-end](https://chromiumdash.appspot.com/branches) and
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| branch | M(X) Branch | M(X) Beta | Polish issues for Finch-gated features (no workflow changes), any new regressions, any release blockers, any security issues, any string issues (.GRD changes) |
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| beta | M(X) Beta | M(X) Stable Cut | Non-functional issues for Finch-gated features (e.g. add metrics, fix crash), noticeable new regressions, any release blockers, any security issues, urgent string issues (.GRD changes) |
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| stable_cut | M(X) Stable Cut | M(X) Stable | Urgent new regressions, all release blockers, important security issues (medium severity or higher), emergency string issues (.GRD changes) |
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| stable | M(X) Stable | M(X+1) Stable | Urgent new regressions (especially user reports), urgent release blockers, important security issues (medium severity or higher) |
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| extended (if applicable) | M(X+1) Stable | M(X+2) Stable | Important security issues (medium severity or higher) applicable to Windows, Mac or Chrome OS |
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| stable | M(X) Stable | M(X+1) Stable | Urgent new regressions (especially user reports), urgent release blockers, important security issues (medium severity or higher) requested by the security team |
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| extended (if applicable) | M(X+1) Stable | M(X+2) Stable | Important security issues (medium severity or higher) applicable to any platform supported by Chrome Browser requested by the security team |
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### Merge states and labels
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@ -7,21 +7,33 @@
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Chrome ships a new milestone (major version) to the stable channel every four
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weeks. The new milestone is developed on main for four weeks (beginning on
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branch point for the previous milestone) before the milestone's branch is cut,
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which is then stabilized for six weeks before being shipped to stable.
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Chrome also maintains every other milestone branch for four additional weeks by
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backporting important security fixes to create an extended stable channel,
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where a new milestone is shipped every eight weeks. During the first four
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weeks of this milestone, both stable and extended stable are shipped identical
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releases; see the [channel lifecycle](#channel-lifecycle) to learn more.
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The extended stable channel is only available to enterprises, who can enable it
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via enterprise policies.
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Biweekly updates (called refreshes) are shipped to both the stable and extended
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stable channels to deploy security fixes and keep Chrome's
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which is then stabilized for six weeks before being shipped to stable. Once
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a milestone reaches stable, biweekly updates (called refreshes) are shipped to
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the stable to deploy security fixes and keep Chrome's
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[patch gap](https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/g/security-dev/c/fbiuFbW07vI)
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short. Selected regression fixes may also be included in stable channel
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refreshes, but not extended stable refreshes.
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short.
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## Extended Stable
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Chrome Browser also maintains every other milestone branch for four additional
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weeks by backporting important security fixes to create an extended stable
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channel, where a new milestone is shipped every eight weeks. During the first
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four weeks of this milestone, both stable and extended stable are shipped
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identical releases; see the [channel lifecycle](#channel-lifecycle) to learn
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more. The extended stable channel is only available to enterprises on the
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Windows and Mac platforms, and can be enabled via enterprise policies. Biweekly
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refreshes are shipped to extended stable as well.
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While extended stable is only shipped to Windows and Mac, security fixes that
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are relevant to any Chrome Browser platforms will be landed on the extended
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stable branch for use by embedders. It's important to note that while the team
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will make an effort to backport all important security fixes to extended
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stable, complex and risky changes as well as larger features that improve
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security (e.g.
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[Site Isolation](https://www.chromium.org/Home/chromium-security/site-isolation))
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may not be viable to backport and will only be available on the stable channel;
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as such, using the stable channel and stable branches is recommended for any
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team where security is a primary concern.
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## Release Cycle
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The diagram below shows when our different development checkpoints occur as a
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