diff --git a/Documentation/BreakingChanges.txt b/Documentation/BreakingChanges.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..9f478f2a58 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/BreakingChanges.txt @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ += Upcoming breaking changes + +The Git project aims to ensure backwards compatibility to the best extent +possible. Minor releases will not break backwards compatibility unless there is +a very strong reason to do so, like for example a security vulnerability. + +Regardless of that, due to the age of the Git project, it is only natural to +accumulate a backlog of backwards-incompatible changes that will eventually be +required to keep the project aligned with a changing world. These changes fall +into several categories: + +* Changes to long established defaults. +* Concepts that have been replaced with a superior design. +* Concepts, commands, configuration or options that have been lacking in major + ways and that cannot be fixed and which will thus be removed without any + replacement. + +Explicitly not included in this list are fixes to minor bugs that may cause a +change in user-visible behavior. + +The Git project irregularly releases breaking versions that deliberately break +backwards compatibility with older versions. This is done to ensure that Git +remains relevant, safe and maintainable going forward. The release cadence of +breaking versions is typically measured in multiple years. We had the following +major breaking releases in the past: + +* Git 1.6.0, released in August 2008. +* Git 2.0, released in May 2014. + +We use . release numbers these days, starting from Git 2.0. For +future releases, our plan is to increment in the release number when we +make the next breaking release. Before Git 2.0, the release numbers were +1.. with the intention to increment for "usual" breaking +releases, reserving the jump to Git 2.0 for really large backward-compatibility +breaking changes. + +The intent of this document is to track upcoming deprecations for future +breaking releases. Furthermore, this document also tracks what will _not_ be +deprecated. This is done such that the outcome of discussions document both +when the discussion favors deprecation, but also when it rejects a deprecation. + +Items should have a clear summary of the reasons why we do or do not want to +make the described change that can be easily understood without having to read +the mailing list discussions. If there are alternatives to the changed feature, +those alternatives should be pointed out to our users. + +All items should be accompanied by references to relevant mailing list threads +where the deprecation was discussed. These references use message-IDs, which +can visited via + + https://lore.kernel.org/git/$message_id/ + +to see the message and its surrounding discussion. Such a reference is there to +make it easier for you to find how the project reached consensus on the +described item back then. + +This is a living document as the environment surrounding the project changes +over time. If circumstances change, an earlier decision to deprecate or change +something may need to be revisited from time to time. So do not take items on +this list to mean "it is settled, do not waste our time bringing it up again". + +== Git 3.0 + +The following subsections document upcoming breaking changes for Git 3.0. There +is no planned release date for this breaking version yet. + +Proposed changes and removals only include items which are "ready" to be done. +In other words, this is not supposed to be a wishlist of features that should +be changed to or replaced in case the alternative was implemented already. + +=== Changes + +=== Removals + +== Superseded features that will not be deprecated + +Some features have gained newer replacements that aim to improve the design in +certain ways. The fact that there is a replacement does not automatically mean +that the old way of doing things will eventually be removed. This section tracks +those features with newer alternatives.