1 files changed, 248 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/tools/RELEASE_CHANGES b/src/tools/RELEASE_CHANGES
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e8de724
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tools/RELEASE_CHANGES
@@ -0,0 +1,248 @@
+For All Releases (major, minor, beta, RC)
+================
+
+* Release version number changes
+	o run src/tools/version_stamp.pl, then run autoconf
+	  (by packager) (beta)
+
+* Release notes
+	o run git log and, if useful, src/tools/git_changelog
+	o update doc/src/sgml/release-NN.sgml in relevant branches
+	o run spellchecker on result
+	o add SGML markup
+
+* Update timezone data to match latest IANA timezone database and new
+  Windows releases, if any (see src/timezone/README)
+
+* Translation updates
+	1. Check out the messages repository (of the right branch) from
+	   <http://git.postgresql.org/git/pgtranslation/messages.git>.
+	2. Check out the admin repository from
+	   <http://git.postgresql.org/git/pgtranslation/admin.git>.
+	3. From babel.postgresql.org, download the "qualified list"
+	   for the respective branch.
+	4. Run ".../admin/cp-po -L qualified-list-xxx.txt -g .../messages .../postgresql".
+	   This creates a commit in the postgresql repository.
+	5. Push everything.
+
+
+For Major Releases
+==================
+(in addition to the above)
+
+Note that once the release branch has been forked off in git,
+release-note editing happens in that branch, not in master.
+Updates to the rest of the documentation usually need to happen
+in both master and the branch.
+
+* Release notes
+	o use src/tools/git_changelog
+	o retain the relevant commits
+		o  new features and options
+		o  major performance improvements
+		o  bug fixes for serious or common bugs
+		o  incompatibilities and significant user-visible changes
+		o  major source code changes
+	o update TODO list, http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Todo
+		o  verify items marked as completed are completed
+		o  mark additional items as completed
+		o  remove completed items
+	o group items into categories
+	o select incompatibilities
+	o add documentation links for items
+	o select major features
+
+* Documentation
+	o document all new features
+	o update help output from inside the programs
+	o doc/src/sgml/ref manual pages
+
+* Ports
+	o update ports list in doc/src/sgml/installation.sgml
+
+
+Pre-Beta Tasks
+==============
+
+These things should be done at least once per development cycle.
+Typically we do them between feature freeze and start of beta test,
+but there may be reasons to do them at other times as well.
+
+* Run mechanical code beautification tools:
+  pgindent, pgperltidy, and "make reformat-dat-files"
+  (complete steps from src/tools/pgindent/README)
+
+* Renumber any manually-assigned OIDs between 8000 and 9999
+  to lower numbers, using renumber_oids.pl (see notes in bki.sgml)
+
+* Update config.guess and config.sub
+  (from https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/config)
+
+* Update Unicode data: Edit UNICODE_VERSION and CLDR_VERSION in
+  src/Makefile.global.in, run make update-unicode, and commit.
+
+
+Starting a New Development Cycle
+================================
+
+* Typically, we do pgindent and perltidy runs just before branching,
+  as well as before beta (complete steps from src/tools/pgindent/README)
+
+* Create a branch in git for maintenance of the previous release
+	o on master branch, do:
+		git pull           # be sure you have the latest "master"
+		git branch "new-branch-name"
+		git push -u origin  "new-branch-name"
+	  for example,
+		git branch REL_11_STABLE
+		git push -u origin REL_11_STABLE
+
+* Add new branch's name to list in src/tools/git_changelog
+
+* Increment the major version number in src/tools/version_stamp.pl
+
+* Run "src/tools/version_stamp.pl devel", then run autoconf
+
+* Create a new doc/src/sgml/release-NN.sgml file (initially just a
+  placeholder), "git rm" the previous one, and update release.sgml and
+  filelist.sgml to match.
+
+* Notify the private committers email list, to ensure all committers
+  are aware of the new branch even if they're not paying close attention
+  to pgsql-hackers.
+
+* Get the buildfarm's 'branches_of_interest.txt' file updated with the new
+  branch.  Once the buildfarm server is accepting reports, notify the
+  buildfarm owners' email list, for the benefit of owners who use manual
+  branch scheduling.
+
+
+Creating Back-Branch Release Notes
+==================================
+
+* Run src/tools/git_changelog to generate a list of relevant commits.
+  You can also run 'git log' in each branch.  Be sure to use the --since
+  branch tag and not the release date, as commits could have been done
+  between branch stamping and the release date.
+
+* Remember to include any older branch commits not in the newest branch.
+  This can be accomplished by diff'ing the newest and older branch commit
+  logs and looking for lines that only appear in the older branch, e.g.:
+
+       diff commit-N.N.log commit-O.O.log | grep '^>'
+
+* On the most recent release branch (*not* in master), edit and create SGML
+  markup for relevant changes in that branch's release-NN.sgml file.
+  Minor release notes should include more small change details because
+  testing is limited.
+
+* Copy this text into older branches' release-NN.sgml files, then remove
+  items that do not apply based on commit logs for that branch.
+
+* The minor release notes for the oldest active branch should always
+  include a warning about its impending EOL.  Use the same boilerplate
+  text used in previous branches.
+
+
+Retiring a Branch
+=================
+
+* Notify the private committers email list, to ensure all committers
+  are aware of the branch being dead.
+
+* Get the buildfarm's 'branches_of_interest.txt' file updated to remove
+  the retired branch.  Then notify the buildfarm owners' email list,
+  for the benefit of owners who use manual branch scheduling.
+
+
+
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+                       Library Version Changes
+                       =======================
+
+Major Version
+=============
+
+The major version number should be updated whenever the source of the
+library changes to make it binary incompatible. Such changes include,
+but are not limited to:
+
+1. Removing a public function or structure (or typedef, enum, ...)
+
+2. Modifying a public functions arguments.
+
+3. Removing a field from a public structure.
+
+4. Adding a field to a public structure, unless steps have been
+previously taken to shield users from such a change, for example by
+such structures only ever being allocated/instantiated by a library
+function which would give the new field a suitable default value.
+
+Adding a new function should NOT force an increase in the major version
+number. (Packagers will see the standard minor number update and install
+the new library.)  When the major version is increased all applications
+which link to the library MUST be recompiled - this is not desirable.
+
+Minor Version
+=============
+
+The minor version number should be updated whenever the functionality of
+the library has changed, typically a change in source code between releases
+would mean an increase in the minor version number so long as it does not
+require a major version increase.
+
+Given that we make at least some changes to our libraries in every major
+PostgreSQL version, we always bump all minor library version numbers in
+each development cycle as a matter of policy.  This is currently mechanized
+by referencing the MAJORVERSION make macro in the value of SO_MINOR_VERSION
+for each shared library.  As of v10, SO_MINOR_VERSION is simply equal to
+MAJORVERSION in all cases.  If we ever make an incompatible break in a
+library's API, forcing a major version bump, we could continue to increase
+SO_MINOR_VERSION (thus, perhaps, going from libpq.so.5.12 to libpq.so.6.13),
+or we could reset SO_MINOR_VERSION to zero, using makefile code along the
+lines of
+	SO_MINOR_VERSION= $(shell expr $(MAJORVERSION) - 13)
+so that the number continues to increase automatically in later branches.
+For now, that complication is not necessary.
+
+Minimizing Changes
+==================
+
+When modifying public functions arguments, steps should be taken to
+maintain binary compatibility across minor PostgreSQL releases (e.g. the
+7.2 series, the 7.3 series, the 7.4/8.0 series). Consider the following
+function:
+
+	void print_stuff(int arg1, int arg2)
+	{
+	    printf("stuff: %d %d\n", arg1, arg2);
+	}
+
+If we wanted to add a third argument:
+
+	void print_stuff(int arg1, int arg2, int arg3)
+	{
+	    printf("stuff: %d %d %d\n", arg1, arg2, arg3);
+	}
+
+Then doing it like this:
+
+	void print_stuff2(int arg1, int arg2, int arg3)
+	{
+	    printf("stuff: %d %d %d\n", arg1, arg2, arg3);
+	}
+
+	void print_stuff(int arg1, int arg2)
+	{
+	    print_stuff2(arg1, arg2, 0);
+	}
+
+would maintain binary compatibility. Obviously this would add a fair
+bit of cruft if used extensively, but considering the changes between
+minor versions would probably be worthwhile to avoid bumping library
+major version. Naturally in the next major version print_stuff() would
+assume the functionality and arguments of print_stuff2().
+
+
+Lee Kindness