3 This file attempts to describe the maintainer-specific notes to follow
4 when hacking Autoconf. Don't put this file into the distribution.
5 Don't mention it in the ChangeLog. You may want to first see
6 README-hacking for more general rules on building Autoconf from
11 ** If you incorporate a change from somebody on the net:
12 First, if it is a large change, you must make sure they have signed
13 the appropriate paperwork. Second, be sure to add their name and
14 email address to THANKS.
17 If a change fixes a test, mention the test in the ChangeLog entry.
18 To this end, the Autotest-mode is handy.
21 If somebody reports a new bug, mention his name in the ChangeLog entry
22 and in the test case you write. Put him into THANKS.
24 The correct response to most actual bugs is to write a new test case
25 which demonstrates the bug. Then fix the bug, re-run the test suite,
26 and check everything in.
29 Which include serious bug fixes, must be mentioned in NEWS.
32 Discoveries in portability matters should be written down in the
33 documentation (what fails, why it fails, *where* it fails, and what's
34 to be written instead?).
36 ** Allow bootstrapping
37 Make sure that a fresh checkout of Autoconf can be bootstrapped using
38 the previous stable release of Autoconf. In other words, do not use
39 newly-added features in configure.ac if doing so would require an
40 installed git checkout to rerun `autoreconf -i' successfully.
48 Try to run the test suite with more severe conditions before a
51 - Run `make syntax-check'
52 This makes sure that the source files follow some consistent rules.
53 The checks live in maint.mk, shared from gnulib, and customized in
56 - Run `make distcheck' and `make maintainer-check'.
58 - Try some real world packages
59 A good example is the coreutils package.
62 These steps describe what a maintainer does to make a release; they
63 are not needed for ordinary patch submission.
66 If you have not yet registered your gpg public key and (preferred)
67 email address with the FSF in relation to the Autoconf package, send
68 an email, preferably GPG-signed, to <ftp-upload@gnu.org> that includes
71 (a) name of package(s) that you are the maintainer for, and your
72 preferred email address.
74 (b) an ASCII armored copy of your GnuPG key, as an attachment.
75 ("gpg --export -a YOUR_KEY_ID > mykey.asc" should give you
78 When you have received acknowledgement of your message, the proper GPG
79 keys will be registered on ftp-upload.gnu.org and only then will you
80 be authorized to upload files to the FSF ftp machines. Beware; this
81 process can take several days.
83 ** Mailing list Admin Privileges
84 If you do not have access to the mailing list administrative
85 interface, approach the list owners for the password. Be sure to
86 check the lists (esp. bug-autoconf) for outstanding bug reports also
87 in the list of pending moderation requests. This step is not strictly
90 ** Preparation for release
91 Make sure you have GNU make installed. Make sure your PATH includes a
92 Automake 1.11 or later (preferably not a development snapshot). Make
93 sure your locale is sane, e.g. by exporting LC_ALL=C. Bootstrap the
94 checkout, and make sure the testsuite passes. See above for more
95 hints on the testsuite. If needed, update cfg.mk with details
96 specific to your environment, such as the location of a gnulib checkout.
98 ** Update the foreign files
99 Running `make fetch' in the top level should grab it all for you; you
100 should check the results before committing them in git.
102 ** Set the version number
103 Update the version number in NEWS (with version, date, and release
104 type). Make sure all changes are committed, then run `git tag -s -m
105 <version> -u <gpg_key> v<version>'. Do not push anything upstream at
109 As much as possible, make sure to release an Autoconf that uses
110 itself. That's easy: just be in the top level, and run
111 `tests/autoconf'. Or install this autoconf and run `autoreconf -f'.
114 Run `make {alpha,beta,stable}' depending on which type of release this
115 is. This runs the various checks, creates delta files, creates a
116 preliminary announcement in ~/announce-autoconf-<version>, prints
117 out the command to upload the files, and updates the previous version
120 If it fails, run `git tag -d v<version>', fix the problems, and go
121 back to the step of setting the version.
124 Put the tarballs where they should be, using the instructions
125 regarding gnupload that were printed during the previous step. Verify
126 that the files are correctly uploaded before sending a release
130 Run `git push origin refs/tags/v<version>' to push the release tag.
133 Complete/fix the announcement file, and email it at least to
134 autoconf@gnu.org and autotools-announce@gnu.org. If this is a stable
135 release, also mail to info-gnu@gnu.org; if it is a beta release,
136 also mail to platform-testers@gnu.org.
139 For alpha and beta releases, the process is complete. For stable
140 releases, there are several other web pages that need updates.
142 Update the online manual: Run `make web-manual', then copy the
143 contents of doc/manual into a CVS checkout of the documentation
144 repository. Remember to use `cvs add -ko' so that RCS keywords in the
145 generated output do not get expanded improperly.
147 $ cvs -z3 -d:ext:<user>@cvs.sv.gnu.org:/web/autoconf co autoconf
149 Post a news blurb on https://savannah.gnu.org/projects/autoconf.
151 Update the Free Software Directory: browse to:
152 https://directory.fsf.org/project/autoconf/
153 and send an email to <bug-directory@gnu.org> mentioning any content
154 that needs to be updated.
158 Copyright (C) 2002, 2008-2017, 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
160 Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
161 are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright
162 notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is,
163 without warranty of any kind.