DepFreeze
DepFreeze (DF) generally happens at the same time as FeatureFreeze. It is followed generally a week later by the stricter HardDepFreeze.
Freeze
Once DF kicks in, special rules apply to proposed changes to the openstack/requirements repository:
are generally considered OK:
- upper-constraints automated bumps
- additions to projects.txt which do not trigger additional requirements
are generally worth a discussion:
- minimum bumps in OpenStack libraries
are generally considered not OK:
- minimum bumps in 3rd party dependencies
- new dependencies
- anything that could be deferred until Mitaka
Rejected changes should be temporarily rejected using a -2 vote to prevent them from being accidentally approved without an exception being granted.
Rationale
DF facilitates the work of downstream OpenStack packagers by not gratuitously adding dependencies toward the end of the cycle, when they don't have as much time and freedom to add new dependencies to their distribution. It helps ensuring the timely packaging of OpenStack releases in distributions.
Exception procedure
If you want to propose an exceptional requirements changes during DF (that is, if you believe has an acceptable benefit/disruption ratio), you should first raise an openstack-dev ML thread with [depfreeze] in the subject line (in addition to the affected project), discussing the proposed change and its merits. If the thread validates the approach, you can propose a change, referencing the discussion.
The Release manager, with the assistance of the core developers of the associated product, will evaluate the request and grant or deny the exception. The farther we are in the release cycle, the less likely it is for the exception to be granted. Remember that the next cycle is just a month away :)