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 === Eventually:
  11
  12 * Deprecate `read-only-string?'.
  13
  14 After signal handling and threading have been fixed:
  15 - remove the code corresponding to GUILE_OLD_ASYNC_CLICK and the corresponding
  16   GUILE_OLD_ASYNC_CLICK macro.
  17
  18 === In release 1.6.0:
  19
  20 - Make sure that the deprecation mechanism explained in INSTALL and
  21   README is completed and works.
  22
  23 === In release 1.8.0:
  24
  25 - remove vcell and obarray support.
  26   Remove all code bracketed by `#if SCM_ENABLE_VCELLS'.
  27   Also remove `variable-set-name-hint' completely.
  28
  29 - remove compatability module (ice-9 and-let*).  It
  30   has been replaced by (ice-9 and-let-star) and/or (srfi srfi-2).
  31
  32 - remove support for autoloading compiled-code modules:
  33     try-module-linked
  34     try-module-dynamic-link
  35     init-dynamic-module
  36     scm_register_module_xxx
  37     etc.
  38 - remove deprecated variables:
  39     scm_top_level_lookup_closure_var
  40 - remove deprecated functions:
  41     eval.c: scm_eval2, scm_eval_3
  42     load.c: scm_read_and_eval_x
  43     smob.c: scm_make_smob_type_mfpe, scm_set_smob_mfpe
  44     gc.c: scm_remember
  45     string.c: scm_makstr
  46 - remove deprecated procedures:
  47     boot-9.scm: eval-in-module, id, -1+, return-it, string-character-length,
  48       flags
  49 - remove deprecated macros: SCM_OUTOFRANGE, SCM_NALLOC, SCM_HUP_SIGNAL,
  50   SCM_INT_SIGNAL, SCM_FPE_SIGNAL, SCM_BUS_SIGNAL, SCM_SEGV_SIGNAL,
  51   SCM_ALRM_SIGNAL, SCM_GC_SIGNAL, SCM_TICK_SIGNAL, SCM_SIG_ORD,
  52   SCM_ORD_SIG, SCM_NUM_SIGS, SCM_SLOPPY_STRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_STRINGORSUBSTR,
  53   SCM_FREEP, SCM_NFREEP, SCM_CHARS, SCM_UCHARS, SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING,
  54   SCM_VALIDATE_ROSTRING_COPY, SCM_VALIDATE_NULLORROSTRING_COPY, SCM_ROLENGTH,
  55   SCM_LENGTH, SCM_HUGE_LENGTH, SCM_SUBSTRP, SCM_SUBSTR_STR, SCM_SUBSTR_OFFSET,
  56   SCM_COERCE_SUBSTR, SCM_ROSTRINGP, SCM_RWSTRINGP, SCM_VALIDATE_RWSTRING,
  57   SCM_ROCHARS, SCM_ROUCHARS, SCM_SETLENGTH, SCM_SETCHARS, SCM_LENGTH_MAX,
  58   SCM_GC8MARKP, SCM_SETGC8MARK, SCM_CLRGC8MARK, SCM_GCTYP16, SCM_GCCDR,
  59   SCM_SUBR_DOC, SCM_OPDIRP, SCM_VALIDATE_OPDIR, SCM_WTA, RETURN_SCM_WTA,
  60   SCM_WNA, SCM_FUNC_NAME, SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_COPY,
  61   SCM_VALIDATE_NUMBER_DEF_COPY, SCM_SLOPPY_CONSP, SCM_SLOPPY_NCONSP,
  62   SCM_SETAND_CDR, SCM_SETOR_CDR, SCM_SETAND_CAR, SCM_SETOR_CAR,
  63   SCM_ARRAY_CONTIGUOUS
  64 - remove scm_vector_set_length_x
  65 - remove function scm_call_catching_errors
  66   (replaced by catch functions from throw.[ch])
  67 - remove support for "#&" reader syntax in (ice-9 optargs).
  68 - remove scm_make_shared_substring
  69 - remove scm_read_only_string_p
  70 - remove scm_strhash
  71 - remove scm_tc7_ssymbol
  72 - remove scm_tc7_msymbol
  73 - remove scm_tcs_symbols
  74 - remove scm_sloppy_memq, scm_sloppy_memv, scm_sloppy_member
  75 - consider removing the automatic loading of (ice-9 rdelim) when guile
  76   starts up.  This would be a brave move, since a lot of code will
  77   assume that read-line is available by default.  However it would make
  78   it easier to use alternative implementations of this module, e.g., a
  79   strictly scsh-compatible version which uses multiple values.  For
  80   interactive use it would be easy to load the module in ~/.guile.
  81 - remove scm_close_all_ports_except
  82 - remove scm_strprint_obj
  83 - remove SCM_CONST_LONG
  84 - remove scm_wta
  85
  86 Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
  87 modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
  88 module system.
  89
  90 Platforms for test builds:
  91 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  92 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  93 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  94 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
  95
  96 These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:
  97
  98 Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:
  99
 100   alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
 101   hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
 102   hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
 103   mips-sgi-irix5.3
 104   powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
 105   powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
 106   sparc-sun-solaris2.6
 107   i686-pc-linux-gnu
 108   mips-sgi-irix6.3
 109   sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4
 110
 111 Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:
 112
 113   alpha-dec-osf4.0e
 114
 115 Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:
 116
 117   dec-mips-ultrix
 118
 119 Perry Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
 120
 121   NetBSD
 122
 123
 124 Release Checklists ===================================================
 125
 126 There are basically two phases to doing a release:
 127
 128 * "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
 129   people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
 130   straightened up.
 131
 132 * "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
 133   the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.
 134
 135 The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
 136 discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.
 137
 138
 139 Spiffing checklist:
 140
 141 * Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
 142   directory.
 143 * Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
 144   copyright notices.  This can be as simple as doing:
 145         grep 'Copyright' * | grep -v 1999
 146   and looking for files you know you've worked on a lot.
 147 * Make sure NEWS, INSTALL, AUTHORS and THANKS and the docs are up to date:
 148   + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
 149     at the left margin.
 150   + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
 151   + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
 152     documented.
 153   + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
 154   + Fact-check INSTALL.
 155   + Make sure AUTHORS and THANKS are up-to-date.
 156 * Make sure the downloading addresses and filenames in README are
 157   current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
 158 * Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
 159   in your PATH match those given in HACKING.  Note that the `make
 160   dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
 161   generated files are up to date.
 162 * Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
 163   + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
 164   + Run aclocal.
 165   + Run autoconf.
 166   + Run autoheader.
 167   + Run automake.
 168 * Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
 169 * Run the test suite, in guile-core/test-suite.
 170 * Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
 171 * Build a test distribution.
 172   + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
 173     in the same tree with configuration options
 174     --enable-maintainer-mode --enable-debug-malloc --with-threads.
 175   + Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
 176   + Build the tree.
 177     (If the above steps are not done, the dependencies won't be properly
 178     included in the generated Makefile.in files.)
 179   + Then do 'make dist'.
 180   + Check that the dependencies in guile-readline/Makefile look OK.
 181     (We currently use a kludge which edits the dependencies generated
 182     by automake so that Guile can be built in a directory separate
 183     from the source tree also with non-GNU make programs.)
 184 * Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
 185   + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
 186   + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
 187     execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
 188     disty without installing those tools.)
 189   + Configure, make, and install.
 190   + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
 191   + Run the test suite on the installed version.
 192   + You might try the example code in the doc directory.
 193
 194 Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:
 195
 196 * Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
 197 * Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
 198   many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
 199   number should have one of the following forms:
 200     N.M                      - a major release
 201     N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
 202     N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
 203 * Reformat the names in THANKS.
 204 * Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
 205   uncommitted or accidental changes.
 206 * Commit your changes.
 207 * Make one last test distribution.
 208
 209 Punting checklist:
 210
 211 * Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
 212 * Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M"
 213   or "release_N_M_L".
 214 * Do a 'make dist'.
 215 * Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
 216   ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
 217 * Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
 218   summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
 219   Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
 220   Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
 221   until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
 222   text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
 223 * Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
 224   (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
 225   www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
 226   does have an entry there.
 227 * Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
 228   that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
 229   version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
 230 * Start a new section of the NEWS file.
 231 * Start a new THANKS file.