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 In release 1.3:
   6 - make #/ generate a warning.
   7 - make SCHEME_LOAD_PATH generate a warning.
   8 - Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com> is willing to do beta-testing
   9   for NetBSD.
  10
  11 In release 1.4:
  12 - remove #/ syntax
  13 - Remove SCHEME_LOAD_PATH.
  14
  15 Platforms for test builds:
  16 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  17 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  18 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  19 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
  20
  21
  22 1) Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.  I
  23    hope that we'll eventually have a test suite to make this more
  24    concrete, but for the moment, just make sure things seem sane.
  25 2) Make sure NEWS and the docs are up to date:
  26    a) Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
  27       at the left margin.
  28    b) Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
  29    c) Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
  30       documented.
  31    d) Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
  32 3) Scan output from `cvs log' to find files that have changed a lot, but
  33    do not have up-to-date copyright notices.
  34 4) Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README, to remove the
  35    "unreleased" indications.  They should be straight numbers, of the form
  36    "N.M", not alpha numbers, of the form "N.Ma".
  37 5) Set up README appropriately for the release.
  38 6) Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
  39 7) Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags.
  40 8) Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
  41 9) Verify that the disty works, too:
  42    a) Make a disty, using 'make dist'.
  43    b) Unpack it somewhere else.
  44    c) Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
  45       execute bits, or something.  (Users should be able to build disty
  46       without installing those tools.)
  47    d) Configure, make, and install.
  48    e) Test the installed version; don't forget to unset SCHEME_LOAD_PATH.
  49    f) If you made any fixes, commit them, and start from a) again
  50 10) Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M".
  51 11) Copy the tar file over to the GNU machines, and ask the appropriate
  52     person to put it on prep.  At the time of this writing, Daniel Hagerty
  53     <hag@ai.mit.edu> has been generous about helping with that.
  54 12) Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put
  55     "Obtaining Guile" first, then a brief summary of the changes in
  56     this release, then "Thanks," "About This Distribution," and
  57     "Nightly Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will
  58     delay it until the tar file appears on prep.  The announcement
  59     text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
  60 13) Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
  61 14) Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate that
  62     the sources are snapshot again.  Snapshots should have version numbers
  63     of the form "N.Ma", where the "a" means "alpha".
  64 15) Start a new section of the NEWS file.
  65 16) Send mail to majordomo-owner@cygnus.com updating the message you get
  66     when you ask majordomo for "info guile".