[Etherlab-users] Configure switch "enable-rtmutex" in devel branch

[Moebius, Volker]

I maintain an embedded Linux application that uses the igh-ethercat master stack. Thank you for all your contributions to this great project!

I've inherited our solution from an external consultancy, which originally used revision `b1945b7b` from the `devel` branch of igh-ethercat.

Now I'd like to switch to a current, stable release version, specifically branch `stable-1.6`, tag `1.6.8`. I've noticed that the `enable-rtmutex` configuration switch is missing in this version. Of course, I could simply remove the switch from our build script, but I'd like to understand its purpose.

I've already searched the issues and commit messages but haven't found a direct explanation. What I found is that "enable-rtmutex" was implemented in the `devel` branch in June 2023 with commit `9955855f7e` "Applied 0016-If-enable-rtmutex-use-rtmutexes-instead-of-semaphore.patch".

However, the `devel` branch ends in January 2024 and, as far as I can see, hasn't been merged into any other branch.

What's the deal with `enable-rtmutex`? Could this change be critical?

What's the branching strategy of the igh-ethercat project? Which branches are well-suited for production use? Is the `devel` branch just a playground for trying out new features?
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