---
title: "Policies of the Ports Management Team: Committing To The Tree"
sidenav: about
---

= Policies of the Ports Management Team: Committing To The Tree

These are the specific policies that the Ports Management Team has adopted regarding commits to the ports tree.

== Changes to `bsd.port.mk`

portmgr acts as sole committer for `bsd.port.mk` at all times. Proposed changes must be submitted as PRs and assigned to portmgr.

== Changes when the tree is open

Open to everything that would not link:../implementation/#requires_regression_test[require a regression test].

== Changes when the tree is frozen

All changes must be approved by portmgr. In general, only the following will be accepted:

* fixes that would prevent a port from installing, deinstalling or running properly for the *upcoming* release.
* security problems. If sufficiently severe, these may imply the need to create a slipped tag.
* licensing issues. These require a slipped tag.

== Changes when the tree is thawed

No link:../implementation#sweeping_changes[sweeping changes]. This is to prevent possibly having to rebuild all the release packages.