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# GNOME Updates

GNOME had a micro release exception granted by the Technical Board in
June 2012. Since the granting of micro release exceptions was made more
generic and then decisions delegated to the SRU team directly, the
documentation of this exception was removed.

However, GNOME does not meet the new generic terms on the QA
requirement. The policy requires a TB exception. Since this was granted
previously, including the consideration of QA, we can treat this as
“grandfathered”.

Therefore, GNOME has a microrelease exception as follows, which applies
regardless of the additional QA requirements in the current general MRE
policy:

- “GNOME (only the core modules and apps, not the entirety of what is
  hosted on gnome.org) (approved on 2012-06-22)”
- GNOME provides a list of what they consider core as a part of the
  release. The lists are found at
  \`https://download.gnome.org/teams/releng/$GNOME_VERSION/versions\`
  (eg: [https://download.gnome.org/teams/releng/42.0/versions](https://download.gnome.org/teams/releng/42.0/versions)) for versions
  older than 48, and at
  \`https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/releng/-/blob/master/tools/versions-$GNOME_VERSION\`
  (eg: [https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/releng/-/blob/master/tools/versions-48](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/releng/-/blob/master/tools/versions-48))
  for versions newer or equal to 48.
  A Debian
  maintainer produces a helpfully-parsed version of this list with
  upstream names matched to source package names at
  [https://people.debian.org/~fpeters/gnome/debian-gnome-42-status.html](https://people.debian.org/~fpeters/gnome/debian-gnome-42-status.html).
  (Older GNOME versions are also available, but these do not have the
  upstream name->source package transformation applied).
- In addition GNOME-provided lists, we additionally consider the
  following packages to be under the MRE exception:
  - evolution
  - evolution-ews
  - file-roller
  - gedit
  - gnome-terminal
  - gnome-tweaks
  - seahorse
  - everything that the gnome-games apt package directly depends on
- As an exception to the GNOME-provided list, vala is **not** covered
  by this MRE. Relevant bug fixes to vala are rare, and require special
  handling (as all rdepends must be rebuilt for any fixes to be picked
  up).
- Additionally, GNOME Shell and mutter are **not** covered by this MRE,
  as [GNOME Shell and mutter upstream no longer have the same
  understanding of point releases we
  do](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/mutter-gnome-shell-are-no-longer-covered-by-the-gnome-mre/45218).
  These packages also have special regression potential, and any SRUs
  to these packages need to test the following:
  - Updates to gnome-shell are at risk of regressing packages
    providing gnome-shell extensions as we discovered in the case
    of [LP:
    #1892245](https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell-extension-dash-to-panel/+bug/1892245).
    For Ubuntu 22.04, most shell extensions have been removed from
    the archive, and all remaining ones must be smoke-tested as a
    part of any gnome-shell SRUs.
  - Prior to 23.10 mutter is a shared critical component with
    Ubuntu Budgie. Mutter SRUs to 22.04 and earlier must be tested
    against the Budgie session in addition to the Ubuntu/Ubuntu on
    Xorg/GNOME/GNOME Classic sessions.

SRU-team tooling to automatically check if a package falls under the
GNOME MRE is in progress. Until that is complete, the following lists
are authoritative for MRE purposes:

- [Xenial](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/xenial?h=trunk)
- [Bionic](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/bionic?h=trunk)
- [Focal](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/focal?h=trunk)
- [Jammy](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/jammy?h=trunk)
- [Kinetic](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/kinetic?h=trunk)
- [Lunar](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/lunar?h=trunk)
- [Mantic](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/mantic?h=trunk)
- [Noble](https://git.launchpad.net/~ubuntu-sru/+git/mre-tools/tree/noble?h=trunk)

## Gnome Testing

An appropriate test plan varies according to the package.

The desktop team will maintain specific test plans at
{ref}\`desktop-team-test-plans\`. If a test plan
is for a particular package is provided there, then it should be
followed during SRU verification for SRUs performed under this
exception.

Such test plans are subject to review and approval by the SRU team. Once
a test plan is reviewed, an SRU team member will add an approval note to
the page. It is possible to determine if an approval is still valid by
comparing the note against the “last edited” timestamp and username at
the bottom right of the page. If a test plan has been improved since the
approval, then changes should be reconsidered and reapproved by the SRU
team the next time an SRU for that particular package is reviewed.

If a test plan is approved by the SRU team, then it can be expected that
in the common case the SRU team won’t require further review changes to
it (ie. to avoid “bikeshedding”). Exceptions: if something substantial
has changed since the approval, or if a significant gap is identified or
otherwise noticed by an SRU team member.

If there is no standard test plan, then ad-hoc test plans in individual
bugs are acceptable, but these will require individual negotiation with
SRU team members every time, and so may incur additional review
iteration delays.

## Gnome References

- [https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-June/001327.html](https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-June/001327.html)
- [https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-June/001298.html](https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/technical-board/2012-June/001298.html)
- [https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/scope-of-gnome-mru/18041/42](https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/scope-of-gnome-mru/18041/42)