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 1.5:
  11 - remove deprecated macros: SCM_INPORTP, SCM_OUTPORTP, SCM_CRDY, SCM_ICHRP,
  12   SCM_ICHR, SCM_MAKICHR, SCM_SETJMPBUF, SCM_NSTRINGP, SCM_NRWSTRINGP,
  13   SCM_NVECTORP
  14 - remove gc-thunk (It has been replaced by after-gc-hook.)
  15 - remove scm_sysmissing
  16 - remove gh_int2scmb (replaced by gh_bool2scm)
  17 - remove scm_fseek (replaced by scm_seek)
  18 - remove scm_tag
  19 - remove code related to the name property of hooks.  Also, check init.c,
  20   since the dependency between hooks and objprop will then be eliminated.
  21 Dirk:FIXME:: look into deprecated things in numbers.h and tags.h, don't forget
  22 to update NEWS accordingly.
  23
  24 Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
  25 modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
  26 module system.
  27
  28 Platforms for test builds:
  29 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  30 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  31 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  32 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
  33
  34 These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:
  35
  36 Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:
  37
  38   alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
  39   hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
  40   hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
  41   mips-sgi-irix5.3
  42   powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
  43   powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
  44   sparc-sun-solaris2.6
  45   i686-pc-linux-gnu
  46   mips-sgi-irix6.3
  47   sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4
  48
  49 Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:
  50
  51   alpha-dec-osf4.0e
  52
  53 Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:
  54
  55   dec-mips-ultrix
  56
  57 Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
  58
  59   NetBSD
  60
  61
  62 Release Checklists ===================================================
  63
  64 There are basically two phases to doing a release:
  65
  66 * "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
  67   people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
  68   straightened up.
  69
  70 * "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
  71   the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.
  72
  73 The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
  74 discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.
  75
  76
  77 Spiffing checklist:
  78
  79 * Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
  80   directory.
  81 * Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
  82   copyright notices.  This can be as simple as doing:
  83         grep 'Copyright' * | grep -v 1999
  84   and looking for files you know you've worked on a lot.
  85 * Make sure NEWS, INSTALL and the docs are up to date:
  86   + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
  87     at the left margin.
  88   + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
  89   + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
  90     documented.
  91   + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
  92   + Fact-check INSTALL.
  93 * Make sure the downloading addresses and filenames in README are
  94   current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
  95 * Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
  96   in your PATH match those given in README.  Note that the `make
  97   dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
  98   generated files are up to date.
  99 * Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
 100   + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
 101   + Run aclocal.
 102   + Run autoconf.
 103   + Run autoheader.
 104   + Run automake.
 105 * Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
 106 * Run the test suite, in guile-modules/test-suite.
 107 * Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
 108 * Build a test distribution.
 109   + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
 110     in the same tree with configuration option --with-threads.
 111   + Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
 112   + Build the tree.
 113     (If the above steps are not done, the dependencies won't be properly
 114     included in the generated Makefile.in files.)
 115   + Then do 'make dist'.
 116 * Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
 117   + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
 118   + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
 119     execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
 120     disty without installing those tools.)
 121   + Configure, make, and install.
 122   + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
 123   + Run the test suite on the installed version.
 124   + You might try the example code in the doc directory.
 125
 126 Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:
 127
 128 * Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
 129 * Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
 130   many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
 131   number should have one of the following forms:
 132     N.M                      - a major release
 133     N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
 134     N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
 135 * Reformat the names in THANKS.
 136 * Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
 137   uncommitted or accidental changes.
 138 * Commit your changes.
 139 * Make one last test distribution.
 140
 141 Punting checklist:
 142
 143 * Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
 144 * Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M"
 145   or "release_N_M_L".
 146 * Do a 'make dist'.
 147 * Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
 148   ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
 149 * Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
 150   summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
 151   Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
 152   Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
 153   until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
 154   text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
 155 * Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
 156   (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
 157   www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
 158   does have an entry there.
 159 * Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
 160   that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
 161   version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
 162 * Start a new section of the NEWS file.
 163 * Start a new THANKS file.
 164 * Send mail to majordomo-owner@cygnus.com updating the message you
 165   get when you ask majordomo for "info guile".