Request for clarification about changes in Hotspot across 8, 9, and 10

[Gustavo Romero]

Hi,

I understand the current status of OpenJDK 8, 9, and 10 regarding changes in
Hotspot as:

jdk8u: "We're open for fixes for 8u152 in the jdk8u-dev forest"                        [1]
jdk9 : We passed Rampdown Phase 2 (2017/03/16) so "only showstopper bugs can be fixed" [2]
jdk10: "As of today these forests are open for bug fixes and small enhancements"       [3]

Distros in general will repackage (update) OpenJDK following the CPU cycles [4].
The next CPU release is on 18 April. If a change is already in jdk8u when
repackaging due to the CPU release occurs, then distros can - under request -
take the change into the new updated OpenJDK 8 package.

But to get a change into jdk8u I need to get it first into 10, then request
backport to 9, and finally request a backport to 8u. However, jdk9 passed the
Rampdown Phase 2, so the change can't get into 9 and hence can't get into jdk8u
by now. So it looks like jdk9 current status is blocking the path to jdk8u.

If the change (bug fix or enhancement) is PPC64-only (let's say a change in the
ppc.ad file), is it possible to get it into 8u before 18 April (next CPU release)
somehow? If not, what are the options? Is it necessary to wait 9 GA and so jdk9u?

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Gustavo

[1] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk8u/
[2] http://openjdk.java.net/projects/jdk9/
[3] http://mail.openjdk.java.net/pipermail/jdk10-dev/2017-January/000041.html
[4] http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/es/topics/security/alerts-086861.html