Add notes about the ports slush to the committer's handbook.

PR:		155391
Submitted by:	eadler
Approved by:	jkois (mentor)

en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/committers-guide/article.sgml

@@ -2803,11 +2803,42 @@ docs:Documentation Bug:freebsd-doc:</programlisting>
 
 	<qandaentry>
 	  <question>
-	    <para>How long is a ports freeze?</para>
+	    <para>What is a <quote>ports slush</quote> or
+	      <quote>feature freeze</quote>?</para>
 	  </question>
 
 	  <answer>
-	    <para>Usually a week or two.</para>
+	    <para>During a release cycle the ports tree may be in a
+	      <quote>slush</quote> state instead of in a hard freeze.
+	      The goal during a slush is to reach a stable ports tree
+	      to avoid rebuilding large sets of packages for the
+	      release and to tag the tree.  During this time
+	      <quote>sweeping changes</quote> are prohibited unless
+	      specifically permitted by portmgr.  Complete details
+	      about what qualifies as a sweeping change can be found
+	      on the <ulink
+	      url="&url.base/portmgr/implementation.html">Portmgr
+	      Implementation page</ulink>.</para>
+
+	    <para>The benefit of a slush as opposed to a complete
+	      freeze is that it allows maintainers to continue adding
+	      new ports, making routine version updates, and bug fixes
+	      to most existing ports, as long as the number of
+	      affected ports is minimal.  For example, updating the
+	      shared library version on a port that many other ports
+	      depend on.</para>
+	  </answer>
+	</qandaentry>
+
+	<qandaentry>
+	  <question>
+	    <para>How long is a ports freeze or slush?</para>
+	  </question>
+
+	  <answer>
+	    <para>A freeze only lasts long enough to tag the tree.
+	      A slush usually lasts a week or two, but may last
+	      longer.</para>
 	  </answer>
 	</qandaentry>
 
@@ -2817,7 +2848,7 @@ docs:Documentation Bug:freebsd-doc:</programlisting>
 	  </question>
 
 	  <answer>
-	    <para>During the ports freeze, you are not allowed to
+	    <para>During a ports freeze, you are not allowed to
 	      commit anything to the tree without explicit approval
 	      from the Ports Management Team.  <quote>Explicit
 	      approval</quote> here means that you send a patch to
@@ -2834,12 +2865,17 @@ docs:Documentation Bug:freebsd-doc:</programlisting>
 	    <para>Note that you do not have implicit permission to fix
 	      a port during the freeze just because it is
 	      broken.</para>
+
+	    <para>During a ports slush, you are still allowed to
+	     commit but you must exercise more caution in what you
+	     commit.  Furthermore a special note (typically <quote>Feature
+	     Safe: yes</quote>) must be added to the commit message.</para>
 	  </answer>
 	</qandaentry>
 
 	<qandaentry>
 	  <question>
-	    <para>How do I know when the ports freeze starts?</para>
+	    <para>How do I know when the ports slush starts?</para>
 	  </question>
 
 	  <answer>
@@ -2848,29 +2884,29 @@ docs:Documentation Bug:freebsd-doc:</programlisting>
 	      announcing the start of the impending release, usually
 	      two or three weeks in advance.  The exact starting time
 	      will not be determined until a few days before the
-	      actual release.  This is because the ports freeze has to
+	      actual release.  This is because the ports slush has to
 	      be synchronized with the release, and it is usually not
 	      known until then when exactly the release will be
 	      rolled.</para>
 
-	    <para>When the freeze starts, there will be another
+	    <para>When the slush starts, there will be another
 	      announcement to the &a.ports; and &a.committers;, of course.</para>
 	  </answer>
 	</qandaentry>
 
 	<qandaentry>
 	  <question>
-	    <para>How do I know when the ports freeze ends?</para>
+	    <para>How do I know when the freeze or slush ends?</para>
 	  </question>
 
 	  <answer>
-	    <para>A few hours after the release, the ports management team
+	    <para>A few hours after the release, the Ports Management
-	      will send out a mail to the &a.ports; and &a.committers;
+	      Team will send out a mail to the &a.ports; and &a.committers;
-	      announcing the end of the ports freeze.  Note that the
+	      announcing the end of the ports freeze or slush.  Note
-	      release being cut does not automatically end the freeze.
+	      that the release being cut does not automatically indicate
-	      We have to make sure there will not be any last minute
+	      the end of the freeze.  We have to make sure there will
-	      snafus that result in an immediate re-rolling of the
+	      be no last minute snafus that result in an immediate
-	      release.</para>
+	      re-rolling of the release.</para>
 	  </answer>
 	</qandaentry>
       </qandadiv>