Request for FFe / "Major Release" SRU for nginx in X-series

[Thomas Ward]

Greetings, Ubuntu Technical Board.

I am approaching you with a request on behalf of myself and the Server
Team with regards to the NGINX package.  We would like the Technical
Board to approve feature freeze exemptions for the Nginx package and
an exceptional "major release" SRU exception for Ubuntu X-series.  We
would also like a decision on this sooner, as the decision of what to
do for X-series does affect the course of action for Wily.

With my assistance, the nginx package in Ubuntu has become maintained
in a more orderly fashion, with bug fixes, security patches, and
general maintenance taken over by myself and the Server Team.  With
the release of Trusty, a binary has been included in Main which
contains upstream-included modules (that is to say, modules written by
the Nginx team that are shipped with the source code).  Since my
taking over of the package, it has regularly had updates merged in
from Debian.  However, we have a divergence of sorts that we would
like guidance with, and a decision for the X series of Ubuntu going
forward.

The Nginx upstream releases are structured as follows:
 (1) There is a "Stable" branch (with even numbering, the current
release series of which is 1.8.x), and a "Mainline" branch (with odd
numbering, the current release series of which is 1.9.x).
 (2) The Mainline branch is considered the "Feature Development"
branch, and many bugfixes, new features, and other updates are
included in it during the course of a year.
 (3) The Stable branches are cut from the Mainline branches every year
in April, which would mean that new features developed during the year
and included into Mainline would become available for that Stable
release.  As such, in April 2015, Nginx cut the Stable 1.8.x branch
from the then-Mainline 1.7.x branch, and opened up a new Mainline
branch of 1.9.x.

Historically, Ubuntu has always merged from Debian, regardless of the
version in Debian.  Since my stepping up and working to make Nginx
updated and maintained, including updating the package with bugfixes,
providing the Security Team update patches, and keeping the package
updated and maintained.  As a result of this, I noticed that within
the past month or so, Debian switched to the Mainline branch for their
Nginx packaging.

Upon noticing this switch, I decided to reach out to the Ubuntu Server
Team for guidance on what to do for the merge for Wily [1].  During
the June 16th meeting of the Server Team, it was discussed on what we
should do for Wily given this information [2].  Three options were
available for Wily: Do nothing, merge 1.9.x, or package 1.8.x
separately and include that instead.

The general opinion was that we should merge from Debian and include
1.9.x, provided that we would get the next Nginx Stable branch for X
series (which would be 1.10.x, scheduled to release some time in
April, with an exact timeline to be determined).  Subsequently, Robie
Basak and myself reached out to the Release team for guidance with
regards to an exception to be placed for X-series to permit us to
continue to merge new 1.9.x versions throughout the X-series
development, with a one-time MRE for X-series to merge in, or manually
package in, the next Nginx Stable 1.10.x version [3].  Input was
provided by Dave Walker [4] and indicated that this issue requires
input from the Technical Board.

Further discussion in the Ubuntu Server IRC channel on this matter led
to a discussion of potential course of action for X-series, as well as
Wily.  This discussion, which took place on July 6th, and included
myself, Robie Basak, Dave Walker, and Jorge Castro, and took place
effectively from 14:53 until 15:56 [5].  During this time, we had
discussed a proposed plan of action, which requires the input from the
Technical Board, and a decision on the matter of persistent FFe/MRE
through the course of X-series development.  This plan is outlined
below:

* For Wily:  Merge 1.9.x from Debian, continue merging up until
FeatureFreeze per the development cycle timeline.
* For X-series, after Wily releases:
    - Continue to merge 1.9.x from Debian, including through
FeatureFreeze, with a final merge just before Final Freeze.  This will
ensure that we are as close as possible to the upstream 1.9.x series
as we can be by X's release.
    - After X's release, and after Nginx cuts the 1.10.x Stable branch
from the 1.9.x Mainline branch and releases it sometime in April 2016:
        * Make a 1.10.x upload for inclusion in X-series via the
-updates repository, as part of a one-time MRE.  Except where needed
to prevent Fail To Build errors in the Universe packages
(nginx-extras, and the nginx lua module among others in that flavor),
there will be little to no deviation from 1.9.x in terms of the
packaging and features included there.  (This would likely not be a
merge from Debian, and instead a manual upload).


The following is what we are requesting of the Ubuntu Technical Board
at this time:

    (1) The Technical Board's opinion on how to proceed for Wily.
        - Should we merge from Debian, as the Server Team and Release
Team believe is the best course of action, or
        - Should we diverge from Debian for Wily, and package the
1.8.x Stable series of nginx for Wily manually, or
        - Or, should we do nothing for Wily, and deal with the issue
closer to X series.
    (2) The Technical Board to consider the following:
        - The proposed Plan of Action above.
        - The request for a persistent FFe for the nginx package after
FeatureFreeze for X-series
        - The request of a one-time "Major Release" SRU exception for
the nginx package (to get 1.10.x into the LTS) to be placed into the
-updates repository after X's release


[1] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-server/2015-June/007072.html
[2] http://irclogs.ubuntu.com/2015/06/16/%23ubuntu-meeting.html#t16:20
[3] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2015-June/003303.html
[4] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2015-July/003310.html


------
Thomas Ward
Ubuntu Server Team