1curl release procedure - how to do a release
2============================================
3
4in the source code repo
5-----------------------
6
7- edit `RELEASE-NOTES` to be accurate
8
9- update `docs/THANKS`
10
11- make sure all relevant changes are committed on the master branch
12
13- tag the git repo in this style: `git tag -a curl-7_34_0`. -a annotates the
14  tag and we use underscores instead of dots in the version number.
15
16- run "./maketgz 7.34.0" to build the release tarballs. It is important that
17  you run this on a machine with the correct set of autotools etc installed
18  as this is what then will be shipped and used by most users on *nix like
19  systems.
20
21- push the git commits and the new tag
22
23- gpg sign the 4 tarballs as maketgz suggests
24
25- upload the 8 resulting files to the primary download directory
26
27in the curl-www repo
28--------------------
29
30- edit `Makefile` (version number and date),
31
32- edit `_newslog.html` (announce the new release) and
33
34- edit `_changes.html` (insert changes+bugfixes from RELEASE-NOTES)
35
36- commit all local changes
37
38- tag the repo with the same tag as used for the source repo
39
40- make sure all relevant changes are committed and pushed on the master branch
41
42  (the web site then updates its contents automatically)
43
44inform
45------
46
47- send an email to curl-users, curl-announce and curl-library. Insert the
48  RELEASE-NOTES into the mail.
49
50celebrate
51---------
52
53- suitable beverage intake is encouraged for the festivities
54
55curl release scheduling
56=======================
57
58Basics
59------
60
61We do releases every 8 weeks on Wednesdays. If critical problems arise, we can
62insert releases outside of the schedule or we can move the release date - but
63this is very rare.
64
65Each 8 week release cycle is split in two 4-week periods.
66
67- During the first 4 weeks after a release, we allow new features and changes
68  to curl and libcurl. If we accept any such changes, we bump the minor number
69  used for the next release.
70
71- During the second 4-week period we do not merge any features or changes, we
72  then only focus on fixing bugs and polishing things to make a solid coming
73  release.
74
75Coming dates
76------------
77
78Based on the description above, here are some planned release dates (at the
79time of this writing):
80
81- June 17, 2015 (version 7.43.0)
82- August 12, 2015
83- October 7, 2015
84- December 2, 2015
85- January 27, 2016
86- March 23, 2016
87- May 18, 2016
88- July 13, 2016
89- September 7, 2016
90