View source for Policies/Application Lifecycle/Draft

KDE is a friendly community which hosts hundreds of projects. Any project which follows the [https://manifesto.kde.org/ KDE manifesto] and [https://community.kde.org/KDE/Vision KDE Vision] is welcome to join us.

The term "application" is used here to mean any project hosted in KDE Git and includes programming libraries and development tools but not typically infrastructure tools or projects with other end product outputs.

[[File:App-lifecycle2.png|400px]]

= playground =
[https://projects.kde.org/api/v1/projects/playground playground] is a Git module for projects starting development
* You will need a Git write account which needs a referral from another KDE contributor, see [[Infrastructure/Get_a_Developer_Account|Get_a_Developer_Account]]
* You will need to to ask sysadmin to create a module
* Projects can start in scratch repos without asking for a repo, see [[Sysadmin/GitKdeOrgManual|Git KDE.org manual]]
* Projects can make alpha releases and can put them on [http://download.kde.org/unstable download.kde.org unstable]
* Projects can ask for translations for their master branch only

= Incubator =
Projects which started life outside of KDE are welcome to join us if you feel our community makes a good fit through the [https://community.kde.org/Incubator KDE Incubator].  
* The projects should follow the [https://community.kde.org/Incubator/Incubation_Process KDE Incubator] process.
* A sponsor will guide you through the process and check your project complies with the needs of the KDE community

= kdereview =
Projects move into [https://projects.kde.org/api/v1/projects/kdereview kdereview] when they are ready to start making beta or stable releases. It allows for the KDE community to check over for minimum standards.
* You can move your project in [https://cgit.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata.git/ repo-metadata], see [https://cgit.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata.git/tree/README.md repo-metadata README] or file a [http://sysadmin.kde.org/tickets Sysadmin ticket asking for the move]
* See the [[ReleasingExtragearSoftware|Sanity Checklist]] for some of the elements people will review
* E-mail [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-core-devel kde-core-devel] and other relevant mailing lists with details of your project and what the expected destination is for the repo
* Make fixes to issues people bring up or provide explanation why they are not (yet) fixed
* Wait at least two weeks in kdereview

= Releasing = 
Your project is now active and can make beta or stable releases. Find the best home for your project based on contents and release process wanted.
* After two weeks in kdereview you can move it in [https://cgit.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata.git/ repo-metadata], file a [http://sysadmin.kde.org/tickets Sysadmin ticket] if unsure.
* These projects should depend only on stable released software or software known it will get a stable release before the project does. It may use unstable or unreleased software only as an optional build dependency.
* KDE Frameworks are programmer libararies
** They have [[/Frameworks/Policies|strict quality requirements]]
** Get released monthly
** Ask on [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-frameworks-devel kde-frameworks-devel] if you want to be considered for inclusion
** Version numbers are made by release dude, there are no stable branches
* Plasma is a cross device work environment where trust is put on the users' capacity to best define her own workflow and preferences.
** It is typically released 3 times a year
** Projects released as part of Plasma must fit well together and be a useful part of the user's work experience. 
** They would not be useful to users of other desktops.
** Version numbers and stable branches are made by release dude
** Ask on [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/plasma-devel plasma-devel] for consideration of inclusion
* KDE Applications
** Are released typically 3 times a year en-masse
** Includes a range of libraries, applications and developer tools
** External version numbers (projects often have their own internal version numbering scheme) and stable branches are made by release dude
** Ask [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/release-team release-team] or  [https://community.kde.org/Release_Team#Coordinator_List module coordinators] for inclusion
* Self Released - Many projects take care of their own release process
** Also called Extragear
** They can use whatever version number scheme they want and can release in their own timeframe
** Use [https://cgit.kde.org/releaseme.git/ releaseme] to make releases, see [https://techbase.kde.org/ReleasingExtragearSoftware Releasing Extragear Software]

= Unmaintained =
If a project is no longer useful you can move it to [https://projects.kde.org/api/v1/projects/unmaintained unmaintained].  It can move here from any stage in the lifecycle.

Consider suggesting to [[Gardening|KDE Gardening team]] to maintain it if there are still valid use cases.

You can move your project in [https://cgit.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata.git/ repo-metadata], see [https://cgit.kde.org/sysadmin/repo-metadata.git/tree/README.md repo-metadata README] or file a [http://sysadmin.kde.org/tickets Sysadmin ticket asking for the move]

Projects can move back to playground if they are picked up for maintenance again.

= Translations =
All projects with user-visible strings must have translations.

Whenever moving projects between Git modules or when you make a new stable branch you must tell [https://mail.kde.org/mailman/listinfo/kde-i18n-doc kde-i18n-doc] mailing list to update the translation branches.

See [https://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials/Localization/i18n i18n wiki pages].