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 1.3.4:
  11 - remove hook support from boot-9.scm
  12   (only provided for backward compatibility)
  13
  14 In release 1.4:
  15 - remove names evalext.c: serial-map,
  16                ramap.c:   serial-array-copy!, serial-array-map!
  17 - remove module (ice-9 getopt-gnu-style)
  18 - remove kw.h, scm_tc16_kw
  19 - remove genio.h
  20 - remove deprecated function scm_newsmob.
  21
  22 Modules sort.c and random.c should be factored out into separate
  23 modules (but still be distributed with guile-core) when we get a new
  24 module system.
  25
  26 Platforms for test builds:
  27 SunOS (gcc and pcc) --- galapas.ai.mit.edu
  28 Solaris (gcc and SUN cc) --- saturn.ai.mit.edu
  29 NetBSD (gcc) --- repo-man.ai.mit.edu (use /home/repo/jimb)
  30 HP/UX (gcc, HP cc) --- nutrimat.gnu.ai.mit.edu
  31
  32 These gentlemen have kindly offered to do pre-release testing:
  33
  34 Tom Tromey <tromey@cygnus.com>:
  35
  36   alphaev5-unknown-linux-gnu
  37   hppa1.1-hp-hpux10.20
  38   hppa1.1-hp-hpux11.00
  39   mips-sgi-irix5.3
  40   powerpc-ibm-aix4.2.0.0
  41   powerpc-unknown-linux-gnu
  42   sparc-sun-solaris2.6
  43   i686-pc-linux-gnu
  44   mips-sgi-irix6.3
  45   sparc-sun-sunos4.1.4
  46
  47 Ian Grant <I.A.N.Grant@damtp.cam.ac.uk>:
  48
  49   alpha-dec-osf4.0e
  50
  51 Julian Satchell <satchell@merry.dra.hmg.gb>:
  52
  53   dec-mips-ultrix
  54
  55
  56 Release Checklists ===================================================
  57
  58 There are basically two phases to doing a release:
  59
  60 * "SPIFFING": Updating NEWS, README, INSTALL.  Running tests.  Getting
  61   people to try builds on various machines.  Getting everything
  62   straightened up.
  63
  64 * "PUNTING": Updating the version numbers.  Tagging the sources.  Asking
  65   the FSF to put the disty on ftp.gnu.org.  Posting announcements.
  66
  67 The "Spiffing" phase you might go through several times as you
  68 discover problems.  The "Punting" phase you do only once.
  69
  70
  71 Spiffing checklist:
  72
  73 * Do a `cvs update -A', to get rid of any sticky tags in your working
  74   directory.
  75 * Check for files that have changed a lot, but do not have up-to-date
  76   copyright notices.  (It would be nice to have a script to do this...)
  77 * Make sure NEWS, INSTALL and the docs are up to date:
  78   + Scan the ChangeLogs for user-visible changes, marked with an asterisk
  79     at the left margin.
  80   + Update NEWS and the Texinfo documentation as appropriate.
  81   + Remove the user-visible markers from the log entries once they're
  82     documented.
  83   + Check for any [[incomplete]] sections of NEWS.
  84   + Fact-check INSTALL.
  85 * Make sure the downloading addressess and filenames in README are
  86   current.  (But don't bump the version number yet.  We do that below.)
  87 * Check that the versions of aclocal, automake, autoconf, and autoheader
  88   in your PATH match those given in README.  Note that the `make
  89   dist' process always invokes these tools, even when all the
  90   generated files are up to date.
  91 * Rebuild all generated files in the source tree:
  92   + Install the .m4 files where aclocal will find them.
  93   + Run aclocal.
  94   + Run automake.
  95   + Run autoconf.
  96   + Run autoheader.
  97 * Verify that Guile builds and runs in your working directory.
  98 * Run the test suite, in guile-modules/test-suite.
  99 * Commit all changes to the CVS repository.
 100 * Build a test distribution.
 101   + BEFORE doing 'make dist', configure the source tree for build
 102     in the same tree with configuration option --with-threads.
 103     Make sure that readline was enabled correctly.
 104     If this is not done, there will be missing dependencies in two
 105     Makefile.in.
 106   + Then do 'make dist'.
 107 * Give the test disty to various people to try.  Here's what you should do:
 108   + Unset GUILE_LOAD_PATH.
 109   + Remove automake and autoconf from your path, or turn off their
 110     execute bits, or something.  (Users must be able to build the
 111     disty without installing those tools.)
 112   + Configure, make, and install.
 113   + Make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH doesn't include anything unnecessary.
 114   + Run the test suite on the installed version.
 115   + You might try the example code in the doc directory.
 116
 117 Once you've got a disty that seems pretty solid:
 118
 119 * Choose new interface numbers for shared libraries.
 120 * Update the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION and README.  (There are
 121   many places in README that need updating!)  The Guile version
 122   number should have one of the following forms:
 123     N.M                      - a major release
 124     N.M.L, where L is even   - a minor release
 125     N.M.L, where L is odd    - sources from CVS or nightly snapshot
 126 * Reformat the names in THANKS.
 127 * Do a `cvs update -A' of the whole tree, to look for any stray
 128   uncommitted or accidental changes.
 129 * Commit your changes.
 130 * Make one last test distribution.
 131
 132 Punting checklist:
 133
 134 * Add "Guile N.M released." entry to the top-level ChangeLog, and commit it.
 135 * Tag the entire source tree with a tag of the form "release_N_M"
 136   or "release_N_M_L".
 137 * Put the distribution up for FTP somewhere, and send mail to
 138   ftp-upload@gnu.org, asking them to put it on prep.
 139 * Send an announcement message to gnu-announce@gnu.org.  Put a brief
 140   summary of the changes in this release first, then "Obtaining
 141   Guile", "Thanks", "About This Distribution," and "Nightly
 142   Snapshots."  If I remember correctly, the moderator will delay it
 143   until the distribution appears on ftp.gnu.org.  The announcement
 144   text should be mostly taken from Guile's README file.
 145 * Notify freshmeat.net, although they're probably watching anyway.
 146   (They got the 1.3 release just fine.)  I have no idea if
 147   www.bowerbird.com.au will be something anyone refers to, but Guile
 148   does have an entry there.
 149 * Tweak the version numbers in GUILE-VERSION, and README to indicate
 150   that the sources are a snapshot again.  Snapshots should have
 151   version numbers of the form "N.M.L", where L is odd.
 152 * Start a new section of the NEWS file.
 153 * Start a new THANKS file.
 154 * Send mail to majordomo-owner@cygnus.com updating the message you
 155   get when you ask majordomo for "info guile".