Git v3.0 timeline, was Re: What's cooking in git.git (Sep 2026, #08)

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: Sep 22, 2026, 13:25 UTC
Message-ID: <76ac51df-cef8-c6a9-2610-8c21f03c6999@gmx.de>
In-Reply-To: <xmqqwlsei1pv.fsf@gitster.g>

Hi Junio,

On Mon, 21 Sep 2026, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 7 quoted lines

> Git 2.56-rc1 has been tagged.  We may merge last-minute fixes before
> the final Git 2.56 release, but otherwise I do not expect any new
> feature topics to be ready before the final, so most of the
> in-flight topics will stay cooking in 'next' until then.  As
> discussed at the Git Contributors' Summit, the version after the
> upcoming Git 2.56 will be Git 2.98, scheduled near the end of this
> year.

Would you say that the following is an accurate characterization of the timeline, so that people who need to plan dependent projects can rely on it?

The participants of the Git Contributor Summit agreed on a certain release shape, rather than timing: release v2.99.1 and v3.0 simultaneously, differing only in the breaking-change defaults. The timeline discussed was v2.56 in September, v2.98 in December, then v2.99/v3.0 around March 2027; April also came up. Dropping v2.57 in favor of v2.98 was an explicit decision. This would make v3.0 principally a deliberate compatibility transition, rather than a separate batch of features.

Rust was treated as mandatory for v3.0, and the explicit check for objections drew none from anyone in the room. Compared with the contentious portability discussion on the Git mailing list, that is a notable signal. It does not establish that the portability problems themselves are solved.

One of Git v3.0's bigger-impact challenges is SHA-256 interoperability, which is purportedly done, but not on the Git mailing list yet, and there was affirmation that it will handle historical tags too. While GitLab already has support for SHA-256, GitHub has it only in private preview with general availablility likely before the end of the year. JGit does _not_ have SHA-256 support, and no participant knew of anyone funding it. The ecosystem transition therefore remains uneven.

Is this a fair summary of the "Git v3.0" breakout session at the Git Contributor Summit, from your point of view?

Ciao, Johannes