How to do a GIMP release ---------------------------- a check-list for doing a GIMP release ( ) Announce a string freeze on the GIMP Developer mailing list. Mention that a release is planned, what branch will be frozen, and how long the string freeze is going to last. Plan for a couple of weeks at least. No translatable strings must be touched during this time. An example announcement message is: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gimp-developer-list/2016-October/msg00004.html ( ) Announce the planned release on the GNOME I18N mailing list. Let them know about the planned release, what branch it's based on, and how many changes to expect. An example message is: https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-i18n/2016-October/msg00035.html ( ) Also notify the maintainers of the official builds for Windows (irc:ender/@jernejs), macOS (irc:Samm/@samm-git) and flatpak (irc:Jehan/@Jehan) of the upcoming release so they have some time to sort out issues with their builds. ( ) Make sure we have a tag inside desktop/org.gimp.GIMP.appdata.xml.in.in for this upcoming version, with type="development" for development or RC releases (set type="stable", or just no type for stable releases). Some installers may feature more prominently software with recent releases if the appropriate tag was set (e.g. GNOME Software has a "Recent Releases" category). If a description is added, it may be featured in installers and will be translatable (use <_p> or <_li> tags to make the strings localizable). So it is better to prepare the description text as early as possible. ( ) Wait until the date specified in the announcements, use this time to get bug fixes applied which don't modify strings. ( ) Check that you have working ssh access to pentagon.gnome.org and that you are a member of the gimpadmins group. If not, ask Michael Natterer or Michael Schumacher for assistance. ( ) Check that download.gimp.org has enough space to upload the release and to place it into the download area. If not, make place or ask Michael Natterer or Michael Schumacher to do that. ( ) Check that you have admin access to the GIMP product on bugzilla.gimp.org and commit access to the gimp-web module, or that someone can do the changes for you. ( ) Check if NEWS, authors.xml (and the generated AUTHORS), README or INSTALL need to be updated, as well as any release notes on gimp.org. Don't forget to add any "Index of new symbols in GIMP 2.x" to the gtk-doc generated devel-docs. ( ) Does the splash screen need to be changed? Splash requirements: [ ] Accepted license: a libre license, such as CC 0, CC by, CC by-sa or Free Art. [ ] XCF file must be provided. [ ] Minimum size: full HD (splash images will be scaled down to 1/2 of the main display when too big; but they won't be scaled up. Therefore anything smaller than fullHD will look tiny and unsuited on a 4K or higher res display). [ ] Loading text will appear in bottom quarter, so image contents must be adapted. ( ) If ever the actual release date evolved and is different from the planned date, update the "date" in the tag of the appdata in: desktop/org.gimp.GIMP.appdata.xml.in ( ) Bump the version number to an even micro in configure.ac and commit this change. It should be the version number of the release you are about to make. Releases always have even micro numbers. [ ] In configure.ac, modify gimp_micro_version accordingly. [ ] In configure.ac, modify gimp_interface_age accordingly. ( ) Make dist tarballs: [ ] Start with a checkout of the GIMP tree. Make sure the checkout is up to date, clean from uncommitted changes. [ ] Run 'git clean -x -d -f' (Warning: you will lose any files that are not added). [ ] Run 'git diff'. This should not generate any output, or your tree has local modifications. [ ] Run ./autogen.sh --enable-gtk-doc [ ] Run 'make' to do a complete build of the source tree. [ ] Run 'make distcheck'. Avoid passing make -j since that can cause mysterious fails. [ ] If changes to generated files are made by the above command (run 'git diff' to find out), commit+push them and repeat from the beginning of this sub-section. [ ] If there are problems reported by 'make distcheck', fix them. If you made changes in the tree to get 'make distcheck' running, commit+push them and repeat from the beginning of this sub-section. [ ] If 'make distcheck' passed and created tarballs, go to the next item. ( ) A successful run of the 'make distcheck' would create the final dist tarballs. It will include a ChangeLog generated from the 'git log'. Note that we don't bother with any release commit, that's what tags are for (see below). ( ) Tag the release (don't forget to push the tag) git tag -s GIMP_2_x_y git push origin GIMP_2_x_y ( ) Bump the version number (past the tagged version) in configure.ac to the next odd micro and commit this change. GIT versions always have odd micro numbers. [ ] In configure.ac, modify gimp_micro_version accordingly. [ ] In configure.ac, modify gimp_interface_age accordingly. ( ) Publish dist tarballs: [ ] Use `sha256sum` and `sha512sum` to create checksums of the tarball (tar.bz2). [ ] Upload the tarball (tar.bz2) to your home directory on pentagon.gnome.org. [ ] Copy the tarball to its final destination in the download area (/srv/ftp/pub/gimp/v2.x). Really use "cp" not "mv" or SELinux will make the uploaded file unreadable to the web server unless some obscure status bit is toggled. [ ] Update the `SHA256SUMS` and `SHA512SUMS` files present in the same download area by adding the computed sha256 and sha512 sums. Note: do not add new MD5 sums anymore. They are considered unsafe. [ ] Update the 0.0_LATEST-IS- file in the corresponding directory on the download server. [ ] Change permissions of the new files to make them writable by the 'gimpadmins' group. This will allow other members of this group to correct mistakes and to update the 0.0_LATEST-IS- file next time. ( ) Add the new version to the GIMP product on bugzilla.gimp.org. ( ) Check out or update the 'gimp-web' module, check out its testing branch. [ ] Update the file 'GIMP_VERSIONS' adding the version, release date, tarball name and its SHA256 and SHA512 hashes under "STABLE". Note: do not add new MD5 sums in 'GIMP_VERSIONS' as well. [ ] Create a news items for the release in content/news/ [ ] Run `make authors.md` in GIMP repository. This will generate the file `authors.md`. Move it to ./content/about/authors.md on the 'gimp-web' module and commit it. [ ] Commit and push the changes, the web server should then update itself soon (it checks for updates every 5 minutes). Go to https://testing.gimp.org to verify the changes. ( ) Announce the release on gimp.org and send a release announcement to the gimp-user and gimp-developer mailing lists. [ ] Check out the gimp-web master branch and merge or cherry-pick the changes you did in the testing branch. [ ] Push the changes, the web server should then update itself soon (it checks for updates every 15 minutes). Go to https://www.gimp.org to verify the changes. [ ] Due to the tendency of news sites to front-run release articles even before actual announcements appear, publish everything as fast as possible. ( ) Grab a properly chilled beverage and enjoy yourself.