Merge pull request #5950 from samvera/maintenance-policy

Add maintenance policy document

documentation/MAINTENANCE.md

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+# Maintenance Policy for Hyrax
+January 25, 2023
+
+[Hyrax Maintenance Working Group](https://samvera.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/samvera/pages/496632295/Hyrax+Maintenance+Working+Group)
+
+## Why do we need a policy? 
+A written policy prevents word-of-mouth policies which create confusion in the community. 
+A written policy also provides a transparent way to communicate our values to people who may 
+not work on the maintenance team consistently. It gives a basis to justify spending time on 
+something that isn’t in the product backlog.
+
+Updated versions of JavaScript libraries, Ruby, and Ruby gems are released all the time. 
+If we don’t keep our applications up-to-date with the latest released versions of their 
+dependencies, we may end up with applications that rely on dependencies with known 
+vulnerabilities, bugs, or deprecated features.
+
+Hyrax releases are managed in two groupings: 
+- Breaking changes which include new features with incompatible changes such as requiring 
+  data migration, bug fixes or security fixes with incompatible changes. 
+- Non-breaking changes which have new features that can be introduced with feature flipper, 
+  backwards compatibility, or that do not require data migration, bug fixes or security fixes
+  that do not require data migration. 
+
+## Semantic Versioning
+
+Hyrax follows [semver](https://semver.org/) for release versioning. All releases are handled in X.Y.Z format.
+
+Current releases are at https://github.com/samvera/hyrax/releases 
+
+### Major X
+New features with incompatible changes such as requiring data migration, bug fixes or security 
+fixes with incompatible changes. Breaking changes are paired with deprecation notices in the 
+previous minor or major release.
+
+### Minor Y
+New features that can be introduced with feature flipper, backwards compatibility, or that do not 
+require data migration. May also contain bug fixes or security fixes that do not require data migration.
+
+### Patch Z
+Bug fixes or security fixes that do not require data migration. No new features.
+
+## Supported Versions
+Supported versions are the highest currently released X version and then backwards to X-1. So when 
+Hyrax 4.0 is released, the latest Hyrax 3.y is supported but Hyrax 2.y is not. Extended support for 
+an otherwise unsupported version may be offered at the Product Owner or Technical Lead’s discretion. 
+See End-of-Life Versions below.
+
+## New features
+New features that are added to the current release may be backported to supported past versions on 
+a case-by-case basis. New features that are not relevant to the current release can be added to a 
+supported past version.
+
+## Bug fixes
+Bug fixes that are added to the current release may be backported to supported past versions on a 
+case-by-case basis. 
+
+## Security fixes
+The current major release will receive patches and new versions in case of a security fix. The last
+release in the previous major version will also receive security updates. So when Hyrax 4.y has a 
+security fix applied, this security fix would also be applied to the latest Hyrax 3.y, but not to 
+Hyrax 2.y.
+
+## Dependency Management
+Deprecated or end-of-life versions of dependencies used as part of building a Hyrax-based application 
+will be removed from the test suite to manage maintenance. If an outdated version of a dependency is 
+still supported that does not pose security issues, it may remain supported in the test suite.
+
+## End-of-Life  Versions
+End-of-life versions are X-1 versions behind the highest currently released X version. So when Hyrax 4.0 
+is released, Hyrax 2.y is end-of-life and no longer supported, but Hyrax 3.y is still supported and is 
+not end-of-life. Extended support for an otherwise unsupported version may be offered at the Product 
+Owner or Technical Lead’s discretion (e.g. many major releases in a short period of time). 
+See Supported Versions above.
+
+End-of-Life versions of Hyrax will not be supported. Applying fixes (security or otherwise) will be 
+up to the implementing entity. We encourage updating to supported versions of Hyrax to receive updates 
+and security fixes.