Re: Where should the vhost-user specification live?

Stefan Hajnoczi <[email protected]> Mon, 1 Jun 2026 12:58:24 -0400
Newsgroups dev.linux.lists.virtio-comment,org.nongnu.qemu-devel
Message-ID <20260601165824.GA428611@fedora>
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On Mon, Jun 01, 2026 at 10:22:32AM -0400, Michael S. Tsirkin wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 01, 2026 at 09:51:40AM -0400, Stefan Hajnoczi wrote:
> > On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 9:12=E2=80=AFAM Michael S. Tsirkin <[email protected]=
om> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Mon, Jun 01, 2026 at 03:05:50PM +0200, Albert Esteve wrote:
> > > > On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 2:39=E2=80=AFPM Michael S. Tsirkin <mst@redh=
at.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > On Mon, Jun 01, 2026 at 02:32:11PM +0200, Albert Esteve wrote:
> > > > > >  But also because, in my opinion, separating
> > > > > > the specification would improve development agility by decoupli=
ng
> > > > > > specification development from QEMU's review and release cycles.
> > > > >
> > > > > Generally for QEMU this will be less agility, unless I misunderst=
and
> > > > > what is proposed)
> > > > >
> > > > > Because presumably there will need to be spec releases then?
> > > > >
> > > > > So
> > > > >         new feature -> spec tree -> spec release -> qemu implemen=
tation -> qemu release
> > > > >
> > > > > is surely longer that what we have now.
> > > >
> > > > I see your point.
> > > >
> > > > However, we do not really need to introduce a heavy release managem=
ent
> > > > layer. We could just operate it as a living document, where the main
> > > > branch is the authoritative source of truth.
> > > >
> > > > For the workflow, development doesn't have to be strictly sequential
> > > > either. A contributor can propose the spec update while working on =
the
> > > > implementation, much like we do for VirtIO updates. Actually, this =
way
> > > > one update/change supports the other.
> > > >
> > > > I guess my point is that a dedicated repository could lower the
> > > > barrier for new changes AND keep QEMU's own development speed mostly
> > > > unaffected.
> > > >
> > > > BR,
> > > > Albert
> > >
> > > Something something submodule? Possibly. If you want to make progress
> > > on this, pls think of the process, try it out.
> >=20
> > If I understand correctly, the motivation for moving the spec
> > somewhere else is to replace the email patch review process with a git
> > forge review process?
>=20
> wait who said that?

I thought that's what the issue ultimately comes down to but it's clear
now that's not it.

Stefan

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