code without.
============================================================================
+= Automake versioning and compatibility scheme
+
+* There are three kinds of automake releases:
+
+ - new major releases (e.g., 2.0, 5.0)
+ - new minor releases (e.g., 1.14, 2.1)
+ - micro a.k.a. "bug-fixing" releases (e.g., 1.13.2, 2.0.1, 3.5.17).
+
+ A new major release should have the major version number bumped, and
+ the minor and micro version numbers reset to zero. A new minor release
+ should have the major version number unchanged, the minor version number
+ bumped, and the micro version number reset to zero. Finally, a new
+ micro version should have the major and minor version numbers unchanged,
+ and the micro version number bumped.
+
+ For example, the first minor version after 1.13.2 will be 1.14; the
+ first bug-fixing version after 1.14 that will be 1.14.1; the first
+ new major version after all such releases will be 2.0; the first
+ bug-fixing version after 2.0 will be 2.0.1; and a further bug-fixing
+ version after 2.0.1 will be 2.0.2.
+
+* Micro releases should be just bug-fixing releases; no new features
+ should be added, and ideally, only trivial bugs, recent regressions,
+ or documentation issues should be addressed by them.
+
+* Minor releases can introduce new "safe" features, do non-trivial
+ but mostly safe code clean-ups, and even add new runtime warnings
+ (rigorously non-fatal); but they shouldn't include any backward
+ incompatible change, nor contain any potentially destabilizing
+ refactoring or sweeping change, nor introduce new features whose
+ implementation might be liable to cause bugs or regressions in
+ existing code.
+
+* Major releases can introduce backward-incompatibilities (albeit
+ such incompatibilities should be announced well in advance, and
+ a smooth transition plan prepared for them), and try more risking
+ and daring refactorings and code cleanups.
+
+* For more information, refer to the extensive discussion associated
+ with automake bug#13578.
+
+============================================================================
= Working with git
* To regenerate dependent files created by aclocal and automake,
latest stable version of Autoconf installed and available early
in your PATH.
-* The Automake git tree currently carries two basic branches: 'master' for
- the current development, and 'maint' for maintenance and bug fixes. The
- maint branch should be kept regularly merged into the master branch.
- It is advisable to merge only after a set of related commits have been
- applied, to avoid introducing too much noise in the history.
+* The Automake git tree currently carries three basic branches: 'maint',
+ 'master' and 'next'.
+
+* The 'maint' branch, reserved to changes that should go into the next
+ micro release; so it will just see fixes for regressions, trivial
+ bugs, or documentation issues, and no "active" development whatsoever.
+ Since emergency regression-fixing or security releases could be cut
+ from this branch at any time, it should always be kept in a releasable
+ state.
+
+* The 'master' branch is where the development of the next minor release
+ takes place. It should be kept in a stable, almost-releasable state,
+ to simplify testing and deploying of new minor version. Note that
+ this is not a hard rule, and such "stability" is not expected to be
+ absolute (emergency releases are cut from maint anyway).
+
+* The 'next' branch is reserved for the development of the next major
+ release. Experimenting a little here is OK, but don't let the branch
+ grow too unstable; if you need to do exploratory programming
+ or over-arching change, you should use a dedicated topic branch, and
+ only merge that back once it is reasonably stable.
+
+* The 'maint' branch should be kept regularly merged into the 'master'
+ branch, and the 'master' branch into the 'next' branch. It is advisable
+ to merge only after a set of related commits have been applied, to avoid
+ introducing too much noise in the history.
* There may be a number of longer-lived feature branches for new
developments. They should be based off of a common ancestor of all
active branches to which the feature should or might be merged later.
- in the future, we might introduce a special branch named 'next' that
- may serve as common ground for feature merging and testing, should
- they not yet be ready for master.
-* After a major release is done, the master branch is to be merged into
- the maint branch, and then a "new" master branch created stemming
- from the resulting commit.
+* After a new minor release is done, the 'master' branch is to be merged
+ into the 'maint' branch, and then a "new" 'master' branch created
+ stemming from the resulting commit.
+ Similarly, after a new major release is done, the 'next' branch is to
+ be merged into both the 'master' and 'maint' branch, and then "new"
+ 'master' and 'next' branches created stemming from the resulting commit.
* When fixing a bug (especially a long-standing one), it may be useful
to commit the fix to a new temporary branch based off the commit that
the active branches descending from the buggy commit. This offers a
simple way to fix the bug consistently and effectively.
-* For merges from branches other than maint, prefer 'git merge --log' over
- plain 'git merge', so that a later 'git log' gives an indication of which
- actual patches were merged even when they don't appear early in the list.
+* For merges, prefer 'git merge --log' over plain 'git merge', so that
+ a later 'git log' gives an indication of which actual patches were
+ merged even when they don't appear early in the list.
-* master and release branches should not be rewound, i.e., should always
- fast-forward, except maybe for privacy issues. The maint branch should not
- be rewound except maybe after retiring a release branch or a new stable
- release. For next, and for feature branches, the announcement for the
- branch should document rewinding policy.
+* The 'next', 'master' and 'maint' branches should not be rewound, i.e.,
+ should always fast-forward, except maybe for privacy issues. For
+ feature branches, the announcement for the branch should document
+ the rewinding policy.
============================================================================
= Writing a good commit message
locations. In case you need to sign with a non-default key, you can
use "make GNUPLOADFLAGS='--user KEY' git-upload-release".
-* For stable releases, update the manuals at www.gnu.org:
- - Generate manuals:
- cd doc
- wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs.sh"
- wget "http://savannah.gnu.org/cgi-bin/viewcvs/~checkout~/texinfo/texinfo/util/gendocs_template"
- sh ./gendocs.sh --email bug-automake@gnu.org automake "GNU Automake"
- - copy manuals recursively to web cvs,
- - commit.
+* For stable releases you'll have to update the manuals at www.gnu.org.
+
+ - Generate manuals (with the help of the standard gendocs.sh script):
+
+ make web-manual
+
+ The ready-to-be-uploaded manuals (in several formats) will be left
+ in the 'doc/web-manuals' directory.
+
+ - Commit the updated manuals to web CVS:
+
+ make web-manual-update
+
+ If your local username is different from your username at Savannah,
+ you'll have to override the 'CVS_USER' make variable accordingly;
+ for example:
+
+ make web-manual-update CVS_USER=slattarini
+
- Check for link errors, fix them, recheck until convergence:
<http://validator.w3.org/checklink>
+* Create an announcement message with "make announcement". Edit the
+ generated 'announcement' file appropriately, in particularly filling
+ in by hand any "TODO" left in there.
+
* Update version number in configure.ac to next alpha number.
Re-run ./bootstrap.sh and commit.
* Don't forget to "git push" your changes so they appear in the public
git tree.
-* Send the announcement at least to <autotools-announce@gnu.org> and
- <automake@gnu.org>. If the release is a stable one, the announcement
- must also go to <info-gnu@gnu.org>; if it is an alpha or beta release,
- announcement should be sent also to <platform-testers@gnu.org>, to
- maximize the possibility of early testing on exotic or proprietary
- systems. Finally, copy the announcement into the NEWS feed at
+* Send the announcement generated in the earlier steps at least to
+ <autotools-announce@gnu.org> and <automake@gnu.org>. If the release
+ is a stable one, the announcement must also go to <info-gnu@gnu.org>;
+ if it is an alpha or beta release, announcement should be sent also
+ to <platform-testers@gnu.org>, to maximize the possibility of early
+ testing on exotic or proprietary systems. Finally, copy an abridged
+ version of the announcement into the NEWS feed at:
<https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/automake>.
+ Be sure to link a version to the complete announcement (from
+ the version you sent to the automake list, as get archived on
+ <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/automake/>).
-----
-Copyright (C) 2003-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright (C) 2003-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
projects / platform / upstream / automake.git / blobdiff