RELEASE

   1 This is a checklist for making Guile releases.
   2 It's specific to the FSF's development environment; please don't put
   3 it in the distribution.
   4
   5 Maybe we should name Guile releases after entertaining poisons:
   6 absinthe, etc.  However, the first release containing the module
   7 system should be called Godot: "This is the one you've been waiting
   8 for."
   9
  10 In release 1.4:
  11 - remove names evalext.c: serial-map,
  12                ramap.c:   serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
  13 - remove module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style)
  14 - remove kw.h, scm_tc16_kw
  15 - remove genio.h
  16 - remove deprecated function scm_newsmob.
  17 - remove deprecated function scm_make_named_hook.
  18
  19 Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
  20 modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
  21 module system.
  22
  23 Platforms for test builds:
  24 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  25 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  26 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  27 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
  28
  29 These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:
  30
  31 Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:
  32
  33   alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
  34   hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
  35   hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
  36   mips-sgi-irix5.3
  37   powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
  38   powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
  39   sparc-sun-solaris2.6
  40   i686-pc-linux-gnu
  41   mips-sgi-irix6.3
  42   sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4
  43
  44 Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:
  45
  46   alpha-dec-osf4.0e
  47
  48 Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:
  49
  50   dec-mips-ultrix
  51
  52 Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
  53
  54   NetBSD
  55
  56
  57 Release Checklists ===================================================
  58
  59 There are basically two phases to doing a release:
  60
  61 * "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
  62   people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
  63   straightened up.
  64
  65 * "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
  66   the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.
  67
  68 The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
  69 discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.
  70
  71
  72 Spiffing checklist:
  73
  74 * Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
  75   directory.
  76 * Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
  77   copyright notices.  This can be as simple as doing:
  78         grep 'Copyright' * | grep -v 1999
  79   and looking for files you know you've worked on a lot.
  80 * Make sure NEWS, INSTALL and the docs are up to date:
  81   + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
  82     at the left margin.
  83   + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
  84   + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
  85     documented.
  86   + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
  87   + Fact-check INSTALL.
  88 * Make sure the downloading addresses and filenames in README are
  89   current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
  90 * Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
  91   in your PATH match those given in README.  Note that the `make
  92   dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
  93   generated files are up to date.
  94 * Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
  95   + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
  96   + Run aclocal.
  97   + Run autoconf.
  98   + Run autoheader.
  99   + Run automake.
 100 * Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
 101 * Run the test suite, in guile-modules/test-suite.
 102 * Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
 103 * Build a test distribution.
 104   + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
 105     in the same tree with configuration option --with-threads.
 106   + Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
 107   + Build the tree.
 108     (If the above steps are not done, the dependencies won't be properly
 109     included in the generated Makefile.in files.)
 110   + Then do 'make dist'.
 111 * Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
 112   + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
 113   + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
 114     execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
 115     disty without installing those tools.)
 116   + Configure, make, and install.
 117   + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
 118   + Run the test suite on the installed version.
 119   + You might try the example code in the doc directory.
 120
 121 Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:
 122
 123 * Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
 124 * Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
 125   many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
 126   number should have one of the following forms:
 127     N.M                      - a major release
 128     N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
 129     N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
 130 * Reformat the names in THANKS.
 131 * Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
 132   uncommitted or accidental changes.
 133 * Commit your changes.
 134 * Make one last test distribution.
 135
 136 Punting checklist:
 137
 138 * Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
 139 * Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M"
 140   or "release_N_M_L".
 141 * Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
 142   ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
 143 * Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
 144   summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
 145   Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
 146   Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
 147   until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
 148   text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
 149 * Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
 150   (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
 151   www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
 152   does have an entry there.
 153 * Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
 154   that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
 155   version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
 156 * Start a new section of the NEWS file.
 157 * Start a new THANKS file.
 158 * Send mail to majordomo-owner@cygnus.com updating the message you
 159   get when you ask majordomo for "info guile".