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-rw-r--r--docs/development/releasing.rst27
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diff --git a/docs/development/releasing.rst b/docs/development/releasing.rst
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@@ -115,3 +115,30 @@ when committing::
When enough patches have been backported, you should release a new **PATCH**
release.
+
+Backport criteria
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+We consider bug fixes and security updates to the Patchwork code itself valid
+for backporting, along with fixes to documentation and developer tooling. We do
+not, however, consider the following backportable:
+
+Features
+ Backporting features is complicated and introduces instability in what is
+ supposed to be stable release. If new features are required, users should
+ update their Patchwork version.
+
+API changes
+ Except for bug fixes that resolve 5xx-class errors or fix security issues.
+ This also applies to API versions.
+
+Requirement changes
+ Requirements on a stable branch are provided as a "snapshot in time" and, as
+ with features, should not change so as to prevent instability being introduced
+ in a stable branch. In addition, stable requirements are not a mechanism to
+ alert users to security vulnerabilities and should not be considered as such.
+ Users of stable branches should either rely on distro-provided dependencies,
+ which generally maintain a snapshot-in-time fork of packages and selectively
+ backport fixes to them, or manage dependencies manually. In cases, where using
+ a distro-provided package necessitates minor changes to the Patchwork code,
+ these can be discussed on a case-by-case basis.