Add notes about updating version numbers after the release, and
[bpt/guile.git] / 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 1) Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory. I
6 hope that we'll eventually have a test suite to make this more
7 concrete, but for the moment, just make sure things seem sane.
8 2) Make sure NEWS and the docs are up to date:
9 a) Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
10 at the left margin.
11 b) Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
12 c) Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
13 documented.
14 3) Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README, to remove the
15 "unreleased" indications.
16 4) Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags.
17 5) Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
18 6) Verify that the disty works, too:
19 a) Make a disty, using 'make dist'.
20 b) Unpack it somewhere else.
21 c) Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
22 execute bits, or something. (Users should be able to build disty
23 without installing those tools.)
24 d) Configure, make, and install.
25 e) Test the installed version; don't forget to unset SCHEME_LOAD_PATH.
26 f) If you made any fixes, commit them, and start from the top of 6).
27 7) Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M".
28 8) Copy the tar file over to the GNU machines, and ask the appropriate
29 person to put it on prep. At the time of this writing, Daniel Hagerty
30 <hag@ai.mit.edu> has usually been generous enough to help with that.
31 9) Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@prep.ai.mit.edu. If I
32 remember correctly, the moderator will delay it until the tar file
33 appears on prep. The announcement text should be mostly taken from
34 Guile's README file.
35 10) Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate that
36 the sources are snapshot again. Start a new section of the NEWS file.