How do base commits get released?

[Rainer Müller]

In addition to what Ryan already said, let me add a few more pointers.

On 2018-11-02 03:41, George Plymale II wrote:
> Furthermore, upon examining the commits between 2.5.3 and 2.5.4 it is
> apparent that some commits on the master branch are missing:
> https://github.com/macports/macports-base/compare/v2.5.3...v2.5.4

These tags point to commits on the release-2.5 branch. The release
branch is created when master is deemed to be stable. Afterwards,
changes from master will only be backported (with git cherry-pick) to
release branches when we need them in a release, for example bug fixes.

https://github.com/macports/macports-base/tree/release-2.5

> So what's going on? I guess this must be part of Macports' release
> system and only certain commits are picked for release. I can't think of
> any other explanation, at least. Why is this done? How long does it take
> (and what are the criteria) before a base commit is actually released? I
> don't see any documentation describing the release process. I'm glad at
> least to know that my changes were not infected with any heisenbugs, but
> after all this investigation I'd like to know what's going on! Consider
> my curiosity piqued, I guess :)

The release process documentation is kept in the macports-base repository:

https://github.com/macports/macports-base/blob/master/portmgr/ReleaseProcess.md

Rainer