Fedora 15 Alpha Release Criteria

Alpha Objectives
The objectives of the Alpha release are to:
 * 1) Publicly release installable media versions of a feature complete test release
 * 2) Test accepted features of
 * 3) Identify as many Beta blocker bugs as possible
 * 4) Identify as many Blocker blocker bugs as possible

Alpha Release Requirements
In order to be the released to the general public, the Alpha Candidate (RC) must meet all of the following criteria. This is intended to make the decision process as clear and straightforward as possible. Mostly met items are incomplete until they are met. Optional and nice to have items should not be included in this list.

There may be times where a requirement is unmet only in a particular configuration, such as with some keyboard layouts but not others, or if a particular character is used in a username, password or passphrase. In such cases, the release team should use their judgment and refer to precedent to determine whether or not the issue should be considered to block the release. They should consider the number of users likely to be affected by the issue, the severity of the case when the issue is encountered, and the ease or otherwise with which the issue can be avoided by both informed and uninformed users.


 * 1) All bugs blocking the Alpha tracker must be CLOSED
 * 2) There must be no file conflicts (cases where the files in some packages conflict but the packages have explicit Conflicts: tags are acceptable) or unresolved package dependencies during a media-based (CD/DVD) install
 * 3) All dedicated installer images must boot to the graphical boot menu and allow the user to select install options. If no option is selected, the installer should load after a reasonable timeout
 * 4) The installer must boot (if appropriate) and run on all primary architectures from default live image, DVD, and boot.iso install media
 * 5) The graphical boot menu for all installation images should include an entry which causes both installation and the installed system to use a generic, highly compatible video driver (such as 'vesa'). This mechanism should work correctly, launching the installer and attempting to use the generic driver
 * 6) The installer must be able to use at least one of the HTTP or FTP remote package source options
 * 7) The installer must be able to use the DVD local package source options
 * 8) The installer must be able to complete an installation using the text, graphical and VNC installation interfaces
 * 9) The installer must be able to complete package installation with the default package set for each supported installation method
 * 10) The installer must be able to complete an installation using IDE, SATA and SCSI storage devices, with the default file system and LVM
 * 11) The installer must be able to complete an installation using the entire disk, existing free space, or existing Linux partitions methods, with or without encryption enabled
 * 12) The rescue mode of the installer must start successfully and be able to detect and mount an existing default installation
 * 13) The installer must be able to report failures to Bugzilla, with appropriate information included
 * 14) In most cases (see Blocker_Bug_FAQ), a system installed according to any of the above criteria (or the appropriate Beta or Final criteria, when applying this criterion to those releases) must boot to the 'firstboot' utility on the first boot after installation, without unintended user intervention. This includes correctly accessing any encrypted partitions when the correct passphrase is supplied. The firstboot utility must be able to create a working user account
 * 15) Following on from the previous criterion, after firstboot is completed and on subsequent boots, a system installed according to any of the above criteria (or the appropriate Beta or Final criteria, when applying this criterion to those releases) must boot to a working graphical environment without unintended user intervention. This includes correctly accessing any encrypted partitions when the correct passphrase is supplied
 * 16) When booting a system installed without a graphical environment, or when using a correct configuration setting to cause an installed system to boot in non-graphical mode, the system should boot to a state where it is possible to log in through at least one of the default virtual consoles
 * 17) It must be possible to run the default web browser and a terminal application from the default desktop environment. The web browser must be able to download files, load extensions, and log into FAS
 * 18) The installed system must be able to download and install updates with yum and PackageKit
 * 19) The default Fedora artwork must either refer to the current Fedora release under development (Fedora 15), or reference an interim release milestone (e.g. Alpha or Beta). If a release version number is used, it must match the current Fedora release under development. This includes artwork used in the installer, firstboot, graphical boot, graphical login and desktop background.

Alpha Blocker Bugs
A bug is considered an Alpha blocker bug if any of the following criteria are met:
 * A bug in a Critical Path package that:
 * Cannot be fixed with a future rawhide update
 * Has a severity rating of high or greater and no reasonable workaround (see definition of severity and priority)
 * Bug hinders execution of required Alpha test plans or dramatically reduces test coverage
 * Bug relates to an unmet Alpha Release Requirement

Contingency Plan

 * If all of the Alpha Release Requirements are not met by 20:00 ETC on Wednesday (1:00 AM UTC Thursday) the week prior to release day, the release will be delayed by one week so that the Alpha Release Requirements can be met.
 * One week will be added to all remaining tasks in the release schedule, including the final release date.
 * This decision will be made at the Go/No-Go Meeting.

Confirming Alpha Requirements
QA has the responsibility of determining whether the criteria for the release has been met (as outlined above) through discussion with Development and Release Engineering. QA's findings will be reviewed and discussed at the Go/No-Go Meeting.

Related Pages

 * Fedora Release Criteria
 * Fedora 15 Beta Release Criteria
 * Fedora 15 Final Release Criteria
 * Blocker Bug FAQ
 * Packaging:Guidelines