Sending the New Documents and Changes to KDEAs part of the wider KDE project, there are some things that documentation writers need to be aware of. There are a large number of other developers working on KDE, and working together with all of them is an important part of what we do.
String freezes, when we write, etc
The KDE release process, in which we go from the fast-moving and sometimes unstable world of the KDE Git repository, to a stable, polished product, is never exactly the same twice, but there are some common features:
A schedule for the next release of Git is published at KDE Release Schedule, with the definitive guide to what will be happening and when. There will be two or more “freezes”, when changes of a certain type are not allowed in the KDE Git repository:
- Feature Freeze
When feature freeze is active, developers are not allowed to commit new features to the repository. This is a good time to start writing, since the features available in the application during this period are the same as the ones which will be available in the released version.
- String Freeze
Text strings appearing in the KDE user interface and in the documentation are not allowed to be changed. This is to allow translators to provide thorough translations that will match the release. We are still considering how to work during this period of freeze. One method which we have tried is to continue writing, but hold back all changes to be committed in one go, immediately before the release.