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[bpt/guile.git] / RELEASE

This is a checklist for making Guile releases.
It's specific to the FSF's development environment; please don't put
it in the distribution.

Maybe we should name Guile releases after entertaining poisons:
absinthe, etc.  However, the first release containing the module
system should be called Godot: "This is the one you've been waiting
for."

In release 1.4:
- remove names evalext.c: serial-map,
               ramap.c:   serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
- remove module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style)
- remove kw.h, scm_tc16_kw
- remove genio.h
- remove deprecated function scm_newsmob.
- remove deprecated function scm_make_named_hook.

Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
module system.

Platforms for test builds:
SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu

These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:

Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:

  alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
  hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
  hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
  mips-sgi-irix5.3
  powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
  powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
  sparc-sun-solaris2.6
  i686-pc-linux-gnu
  mips-sgi-irix6.3
  sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4

Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:

  alpha-dec-osf4.0e  

Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:

  dec-mips-ultrix

Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com>

  NetBSD


Release Checklists ===================================================

There are basically two phases to doing a release:

* "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
  people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
  straightened up.

* "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
  the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.

The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.


Spiffing checklist:

* Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
  directory.
* Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
  copyright notices.  This can be as simple as doing:
	grep 'Copyright' * | grep -v 1999
  and looking for files you know you've worked on a lot.
* Make sure NEWS, INSTALL and the docs are up to date:
  + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
    at the left margin.
  + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
  + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
    documented.
  + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
  + Fact-check INSTALL.
* Make sure the downloading addresses and filenames in README are
  current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
* Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
  in your PATH match those given in README.  Note that the `make
  dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
  generated files are up to date.
* Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
  + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
  + Run aclocal.
  + Run autoconf.
  + Run autoheader.
  + Run automake.
* Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
* Run the test suite, in guile-modules/test-suite.
* Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
* Build a test distribution.
  + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
    in the same tree with configuration option --with-threads.
    Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
    If this is not done, there will be missing dependencies in two
    Makefile.in.
  + Then do 'make dist'.
* Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
  + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
  + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
    execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
    disty without installing those tools.)
  + Configure, make, and install.
  + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
  + Run the test suite on the installed version.
  + You might try the example code in the doc directory.

Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:

* Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
* Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
  many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
  number should have one of the following forms:
    N.M                      - a major release
    N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
    N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
* Reformat the names in THANKS.
* Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
  uncommitted or accidental changes.
* Commit your changes.
* Make one last test distribution.

Punting checklist:

* Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
* Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M" 
  or "release_N_M_L".
* Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
  ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
* Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
  summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
  Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
  Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
  until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
  text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
* Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
  (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
  www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
  does have an entry there.
* Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
  that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
  version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
* Start a new section of the NEWS file.
* Start a new THANKS file.
* Send mail to majordomo-owner@cygnus.com updating the message you
  get when you ask majordomo for "info guile".