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 * Remove compatability module (ice-9 and-let*) eventually (when a
  11   major release with the real module (ice-9 and-let-star) has been out
  12   long enough, probably release 1.8).
  13
  14 * Deprecate `read-only-string?'.
  15
  16 After signal handling and threading have been fixed:
  17 - remove the code corresponding to GUILE_OLD_ASYNC_CLICK and the corresponding
  18   GUILE_OLD_ASYNC_CLICK macro.
  19
  20 In release 1.6.0:
  21 - remove gh_int2scmb (replaced by gh_bool2scm)
  22 - remove scm_fseek (replaced by scm_seek)
  23 - remove scm_tag
  24 - remove code related to the name property of hooks.  Also, check init.c,
  25   since the dependency between hooks and objprop will then be eliminated.
  26 - remove deprecated function scm_list_star/list*  (use SRFI-1 compliant
  27   scm_cons_star/cons* instead.)
  28 - remove scm_tc16_flo, scm_tc_flo (guile always uses doubles to represent
  29   inexact real numbers)
  30 - remove scm_tc_dblr (replaced by scm_tc16_real)
  31 - remove scm_tc_dblc (replaced by scm_tc16_complex)
  32 - remove deprecated types, functions and macros from numbers.h:  scm_dblproc,
  33   SCM_UNEGFIXABLE, SCM_FLOBUFLEN, SCM_INEXP, SCM_CPLXP, SCM_REAL, SCM_IMAG,
  34   SCM_REALPART, scm_makdbl, SCM_SINGP, SCM_NUM2DBL, SCM_NO_BIGDIG
  35 - remove deprecated macro from tags.h: SCM_DOUBLE_CELLP
  36
  37 In release 1.8.0:
  38 - remove support for autoloading compiled-code modules:
  39     try-module-linked
  40     try-module-dynamic-link
  41     init-dynamic-module
  42     scm_register_module_xxx
  43     etc.
  44 - remove deprecated variables:
  45     scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var
  46 - remove deprecated functions:
  47     eval.c: scm_eval2, scm_eval_3
  48     load.c: scm_read_and_eval_x
  49     smob.c: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe
  50     gc.c: scm_remember
  51     string.c: scm_makstr
  52 - remove deprecated procedures:
  53     boot-9.scm: eval-in-module, id
  54 - remove deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
  55   SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
  56   SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
  57   SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR,
  58   SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
  59   SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH,
  60   SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
  61   SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING,
  62   SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX,
  63   SCM_GC8MARKP, SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR,
  64   SCM_SUBR_DOC, SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA,
  65   SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
  66   SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
  67   SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR,
  68   SCM_ARRAY_CONTIGUOUS
  69 - remove scm_vector_set_length_x
  70 - remove function scm_call_catching_errors
  71   (replaced by catch functions from throw.[ch])
  72 - remove support for "#&" reader syntax in (ice-9 optargs).
  73 - remove scm_make_shared_substring
  74 - remove scm_read_only_string_p
  75 - remove scm_strhash
  76 - remove scm_tc7_ssymbol
  77 - remove scm_tc7_msymbol
  78 - remove scm_tcs_symbols
  79 - remove scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
  80 - consider removing the automatic loading of (ice-9 rdelim) when guile
  81   starts up.  This would be a brave move, since a lot of code will
  82   assume that read-line is available by default.  However it would make
  83   it easier to use alternative implementations of this module, e.g., a
  84   strictly scsh-compatible version which uses multiple values.  For
  85   interactive use it would be easy to load the module in ~/.guile.
  86 - remove scm_close_all_ports_except
  87 - remove scm_strprint_obj
  88 - remove SCM_CONST_LONG
  89 - remove scm_wta
  90
  91 Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
  92 modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
  93 module system.
  94
  95 Platforms for test builds:
  96 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  97 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  98 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  99 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
 100
 101 These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:
 102
 103 Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:
 104
 105   alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
 106   hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
 107   hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
 108   mips-sgi-irix5.3
 109   powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
 110   powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
 111   sparc-sun-solaris2.6
 112   i686-pc-linux-gnu
 113   mips-sgi-irix6.3
 114   sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4
 115
 116 Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:
 117
 118   alpha-dec-osf4.0e
 119
 120 Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:
 121
 122   dec-mips-ultrix
 123
 124 Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
 125
 126   NetBSD
 127
 128
 129 Release Checklists ===================================================
 130
 131 There are basically two phases to doing a release:
 132
 133 * "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
 134   people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
 135   straightened up.
 136
 137 * "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
 138   the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.
 139
 140 The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
 141 discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.
 142
 143
 144 Spiffing checklist:
 145
 146 * Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
 147   directory.
 148 * Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
 149   copyright notices.  This can be as simple as doing:
 150         grep 'Copyright' * | grep -v 1999
 151   and looking for files you know you've worked on a lot.
 152 * Make sure NEWS, INSTALL and the docs are up to date:
 153   + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
 154     at the left margin.
 155   + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
 156   + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
 157     documented.
 158   + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
 159   + Fact-check INSTALL.
 160 * Make sure the downloading addresses and filenames in README are
 161   current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
 162 * Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
 163   in your PATH match those given in HACKING.  Note that the `make
 164   dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
 165   generated files are up to date.
 166 * Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
 167   + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
 168   + Run aclocal.
 169   + Run autoconf.
 170   + Run autoheader.
 171   + Run automake.
 172 * Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
 173 * Run the test suite, in guile-core/test-suite.
 174 * Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
 175 * Build a test distribution.
 176   + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
 177     in the same tree with configuration options
 178     --enable-maintainer-mode --enable-debug-malloc --with-threads.
 179   + Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
 180   + Build the tree.
 181     (If the above steps are not done, the dependencies won't be properly
 182     included in the generated Makefile.in files.)
 183   + Then do 'make dist'.
 184   + Check that the dependencies in guile-readline/Makefile look OK.
 185     (We currently use a kludge which edits the dependencies generated
 186     by automake so that Guile can be built in a directory separate
 187     from the source tree also with non-GNU make programs.)
 188 * Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
 189   + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
 190   + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
 191     execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
 192     disty without installing those tools.)
 193   + Configure, make, and install.
 194   + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
 195   + Run the test suite on the installed version.
 196   + You might try the example code in the doc directory.
 197
 198 Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:
 199
 200 * Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
 201 * Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
 202   many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
 203   number should have one of the following forms:
 204     N.M                      - a major release
 205     N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
 206     N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
 207 * Reformat the names in THANKS.
 208 * Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
 209   uncommitted or accidental changes.
 210 * Commit your changes.
 211 * Make one last test distribution.
 212
 213 Punting checklist:
 214
 215 * Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
 216 * Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M"
 217   or "release_N_M_L".
 218 * Do a 'make dist'.
 219 * Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
 220   ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
 221 * Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
 222   summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
 223   Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
 224   Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
 225   until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
 226   text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
 227 * Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
 228   (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
 229   www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
 230   does have an entry there.
 231 * Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
 232   that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
 233   version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
 234 * Start a new section of the NEWS file.
 235 * Start a new THANKS file.