"2014-01-16T05:43:35Z!esr@thyrsus.com". Often, "my previous commit"
will suffice.
-- There is no need to mention files such as NEWS, MAINTAINERS, and
- FOR-RELEASE, or to indicate regeneration of files such as
- 'configure', in the ChangeLog entry. "There is no need" means you
- don't have to, but you can if you want to.
+- There is no need to mention files such as NEWS and MAINTAINERS, or
+ to indicate regeneration of files such as 'configure', in the
+ ChangeLog entry. "There is no need" means you don't have to, but
+ you can if you want to.
** Generating ChangeLog entries
* Instructions and scripts used to prepare an Emacs release.
-** FOR-RELEASE
+** release-process
-Living list of activities that must be completed before the next release.
+The release process used by GNU Emacs.
** make-tarball.txt
'("external-lisp"
"lock" "share-lib" "local-lisp"
"noleim-Makefile.in"
- "NEWS" "ORDERS" "PROBLEMS" "FAQ" "AUTHORS" "FOR-RELEASE" "TODO" "todo"
+ "NEWS" "ORDERS" "PROBLEMS" "FAQ" "AUTHORS" "release-process" "TODO" "todo"
"MACHINES" "SERVICE"
"README.unicode" "README.multi-tty" "TUTORIAL.translators"
"NEWS.unicode" "COPYING.DJ" "Makefile.old" "Makefile.am"
** To record a bug in the tracker without sending mail to the bug list.
This can be useful to make a note of something discussed on
-emacs-devel that needs fixing. In other words, this can be the
-equivalent of adding something to FOR-RELEASE.
+emacs-devel that needs fixing.
To: quiet@debbugs.gnu.org
[headers end]
"build" increments each time Emacs is built in the same location
(without cleaning) and isn't really part of the version.
-bugfix releases increase "minor" by 1.
-non-bugfix releases increase "major" by 1, and reset "minor" to 1.
+Bugfix releases increase "minor" by 1.
+Non-bugfix releases increase "major" by 1, and reset "minor" to 1.
(The division between bugfix and non-bugfix has not always been clear
historically.)
Unreleased (development) versions have an extra "devel" component.
This is a fairly meaningless number that may be unchanged for a long time.
It is normally 50.
-When the release process starts, it changes to 90, 91, ...
-When the actual release is made, this component is removed.
+
+After we cut the release branch, we’ll make pretest and release
+candidate (RC) releases. For pretest releases, the "devel" component
+changes to 90, 91, ... When the first RC release is made, this
+component is removed. Normally, there is one RC release, unless an
+unexpected last-minute problem occurs.
The development version for a new major release has "minor" = 0.
The development version for a new minor release has "minor" = that of
-Tasks needed before the next release.
+This document describes the release process used by GNU Emacs.
+
+* RELEASE CYCLE
+
+Each release cycle will be split into two periods.
+
+** Phase one: development
+
+The first phase of the release schedule is the "heads-down" working
+period for new features, on the `master' branch and several feature
+branches.
+
+** Phase two: bugfixes
+
+Shortly before this phase, Emacs developers will be devoted to
+figuring out what features to include in the next release and what
+features to defer to a later release.
+
+At the beginning of this phase, a release branch called "emacs-NN"
+("NN" represents the major version number of the new Emacs release)
+will be cut from `master'.
+
+This phase is spent fixing bugs and eliminating undocumented new
+features on the "emacs-NN" branch.
+
+In parallel to this phase, `master' can receive new features, to be
+released in the next release cycle. From time to time, the master
+branches merges bugfix commits from the "emacs-NN" branch.
+
+* RELEASE-CRITICAL BUGS
+
+Emacs uses the "blocking bug(s)" feature of Debbugs for bugs need to
+be addressed in the next release.
+
+Currently, bug#19759 is the tracking bug for release of 25.1. Say
+bug#123 needs to be fixed for Emacs 25.1. Send a message to
+control@debbugs.gnu.org that says:
+
+ block 19759 by 123
+
+Change "block" to "unblock" to unblock the bug.
* TO BE DONE SHORTLY BEFORE RELEASE
+** Make sure the Copyright date reflects the current year in the source
+files. See `admin/notes/years' for information about maintaining
+copyright years for GNU Emacs.
+
** Make sure the necessary sources and scripts for any generated files
are included in the source tarfile. (They don't need to be installed,
so eg admin/ is fine.)
variables.texi
windows.texi
+* OTHER INFORMATION
+
+For Emacs's versioning scheme, see `admin/notes/versioning'.
+
+For instructions to create pretest or release tarballs, announcements,
+etc., see `admin/make-tarball.txt'.
+
\f
Local variables:
mode: outline