Feature Freeze¶
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Significant possible overlap with Freezes
During Feature Freeze we stop introducing new features, packages, and APIs, and concentrate on fixing bugs in the development release. Note that the upload queue is not actually frozen – uploads will enter the Archive, so be careful.
The #ubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-release channels on Matrix are generally updated to indicate the current Freeze status.
User Interface Freeze¶
The user interface must be stabilized at some point, so that documentation writers and translators can work on a fixed target that doesn’t make screenshots or documentation obsolete.
After the User Interface Freeze (UIF), the following things must not change further without approval of the release team and notification (usually via email, with a link to the mail in your exception bug) to the documentation and translation teams:
The user interface of individual applications that are installed by default
The appearance of the desktop
The distribution-specific artwork
All user-visible strings in the desktop and applications that are installed by default
Freeze exceptions¶
As with most rules, there are occasional exceptions to the restrictions imposed by the various stages of the Ubuntu release process. These exceptions are granted by the release team based on information provided by the developer who proposes the change.
Find out more about exceptions or Request a Freeze exception.
Additional notes¶
Upstream microreleases of applications are usually fine after this point if they only fix bugs. This should be verified by reading the detailed upstream changelog and (cursorily) reading the diff between the version in the Ubuntu development release and the new upstream version. If in doubt, ask the release team for advice.
ABI/API compatibility is a special case of a feature. If a library breaks backward compatibility (i.e. changes existing API/ABI and introduces a new SONAME, then this always needs approval from the release team, since all reverse dependencies need to be adjusted and rebuilt.
New packages need to be checked by Archive Administrators before they find their way into the archive. This process can take several days up to a few weeks. For the purpose of the Feature Freeze, the upload date matters, i.e. all packages in the NEW queue by that time will be processed without the need for an exception.