RFR: Using backports for stabilization repositories

[David Holmes]

On Wed, 31 May 2023 19:02:14 GMT, Jesper Wilhelmsson <jwilhelm at openjdk.org> wrote:

>> Hi all,
>> 
>> please review this patch that replaces the documentation on the "forward ports" process with the [recently adopted](https://mail.openjdk.org/pipermail/jdk-dev/2023-May/007889.html) "backports" process. The changes are fairly small since the guide already contains great documentation on backports, I just had to adopt it slightly to also cover stabilization repositories.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> Erik
>
> src/guide/the-jdk-release-process.md line 55:
> 
>> 53: ## Backporting to release stabilization repository
>> 54: 
>> 55: During the rampdown of a release there are two repositories in play, the release stabilization repository for the outgoing release, and the mainline repository where the next release is being developed. Any bugfix going into the release stabilization repository is likely to be desired in mainline as well. As a developer you should always create a pull request targeting the mainline repository first and then, once the pull request is integrated, [backport](https://openjdk.org/guide/#backporting) the resulting commit to the release stabilization repository. For bugfixes that are **only** applicable to the release stablization repository, regular pull requests targeting the stabilization fork should be created.
> 
> The last sentence "For bugfixes that..." is unrelated to backporting and can be removed. I'm not sure if there is some other place to put such a note, but I don't think it needs to be explicitly mentioned. This is the same for any release repository (e.g. update releases - if a fix is needed in JDK 17u only it's integrated only there).

I think that last sentence is important because it clarifies what to do after the release stabilization branch has been forked. The previous text should be modified to say "As a developer you should *nearly* always create a pull request targeting the mainline repository first ...".

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PR Review Comment: https://git.openjdk.org/guide/pull/105#discussion_r1223826584