Release Process

This page summarises our release process. It also (now) serves as a checklist.

Release Manager

• Each release has a designated Release Manager (RM), one of the Audacity Team. The Release Manager
  • Manages the whole process, announcing dates, managing freezes, etc.
  • Makes stop/go decisions on the release, and other decisions responding to release issues.
  • RM will probably use a page on wiki such as Next Release for more detailed tracking of what is going into the release, and the schedule.

RM is God
This phrase is a slightly tongue in cheek reference to the fact that the RM decides what is in and what is out for each release. This is a mechanism to reduce argument when there are differences in opinion. The RM is of course expected to be reasonable, and would not have been trusted with the role if they were thought not to be.

Policies

• P1s, including P1s in the manual, block release. P2s are 'Release Manager decides'.
• New files provided for download always need a new name, so a "hotfix" to an installer will have a new name.
• Release Manager can override policies, even releasing with a known P1 bug (though they are very unlikely to do that).

How Tos

The final section of many of the 'Building On' pages have instructions for building release versions.

• Building The Manual - For the manual obviously
• Building On Windows - We produce both an installer and a zip file
• Building On Mac - We just produce a .dmg
• Building On Linux - We produce a minimal tarball

Other tables etc...

• Online Checksum Calculator - For SHA-256's
• Version Checking Scriptlet - For our website downloads page no longer used
• Dynamic Bug List - For release notes pages no longer used

Process (James)

The and tick boxes are for 3.0.2

Some of the steps have been reduced here through improved scripts. For example, there is no longer a need to modify the alpha manual before fetching a final version, as the changes are made as it is downloaded.

Early Stages

• Candidates for RM step forward.
• Team designate a Release Manager.
• Release Manager announces he/she is RM.
• RM announces proposed timeline and proposed scope
• RM increments the version number in:
  • src/Audacity.h
  • win/build.txt
  • audacity.dox
  • Alpha Manual front page.
  • Bugzilla front page.
  • Add to Bugzilla "Version" field.
  • If needed, increase Copyright year in source code for src/AboutDialog.cpp
• Agreed big/dangerous changes go in, such as new libraries, updating compilers or a switch to 64 bit. This is to allow maximum time for issues with these to be worked out
• RM checks codesigning certs, to ensure validity at planned time of use.

Middle Stage

• Lots of development happens here.
• Lots of bug fixing happens here.

The RM has considerable latitude as to exactly what 'String Freeze' and 'Code Freeze' mean.

• In String Freeze changes which will affect translation should not be made.
  • A consequence is that many features that might need tweaked text as they develop should not be modified during 'String Freeze'.
  • P1 and P2 fixes are OK in 'String Freeze', and RM may welcome any bug fixes.
• Code Freeze is generally stricter, and generally all changes must be pre-approved.

String Freeze

• Proposed string freeze data announced.
• Active work on strings to get them ready for translation.
• Last minute tweaks to parameters, error messages and features where names/strings will be affected.
• Last minute changes to manual.
  • Spot tests on alpha manual. (in the past, we've been caught by mediawiki upgrades breaking the script)
• String Freeze announced. (one or two week's duration).
• Translators given .pot files to work on.
• Translations updated in Audacity.
• End of translation announced.
• Write http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Release_Notes_3.0.2 - a brief user-friendly overview of 3.0.2 (checksums will come later)
• Write http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Release_Notes_3.0.2/Issues - a dynamic complete list of known issues OR fixed issues.
  • Final tweaks to the above, taking account of last minute P1s and P2s.
• RM updates README.txt, creating new "Changes in version" text and moving the old text to the top of CHANGELOG.TXT.
• Sanity check installer on Win
• Sanity check .dmg on Mac.
• Sanity check tarball on Linux
• Code Freeze announced.

RCs

• Check with manual team that there are no P1s in manual.
• RM Reviews all P2s
• RM Prepares release announcement on WordPress website (but do not make live)
• Freeze manual
• Fetch a copy of the manual.
• In Audacity.h, set AUDACITY_BUILD_LEVEL to 2.
• Make RCs (e.g. RC1) and place on FossHub audacity-devel (or drop box if unavailable) [x=02]
  • RCx Win exe
  • RCx Win zip
  • RCx Mac dmg
  • RCx Linux tarball
  • RCx Manual zip
• Generate the checksums and post at Release Notes 3.0.2
• Post the links to the RCs on audacity-devel and the Forum.

We may need to repeat with RC2, RC3, if showstoppers are found.

Gale's notes on testing:

• Ensure that installers are tested as well as the zips.
  • Test installers installing over an existing install.
  • Test on non-developer machines (in case it relies on features found only on developer machines).

Release

• RM: Post final builds/installers (including manual.zip) to FossHub.
• Push the updated copy of the manual to https://github.com/audacity/audacity-manual
• Tag the release in GitHub.
• Check whether any of the version numbers mentioned in 'Early Stages' can already be updated for the next version.
• In Audacity.h, set AUDACITY_BUILD_LEVEL to 0.
• Lift Code Freeze, String Freeze and Manual Freeze.
• In Bugzilla add the new alpha version to the "Version" field.

Release is complete!

Release Announcements

Website Changes

• New release announcement on WordPress made live.
• Add link to the new post at http://www.audacityteam.org/about/news/
• Update mentions of SHA checksums (for installers, .zips, source code, and manual):
• Update mentions of program versions, copyright dates, (for installers, .zips, source code, and manual) at:
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/about/citations-screenshots-and-permissions/
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/copyright/
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/download/online-safety-when-downloading/
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/download/mac/
  • http://www.audacityteam.org/download/source/
  • The version number on the front page (via theme edits).
  • The version numbers on download pages (via widget edits).
• Ask James to update version checker script at WordPress website.
  • The above is struck out, since we no longer have the scriptlet plug-in on our site.
• Ask Buanzo to make an offsite backup of the WordPress database.
  • Buanzo to ensure there is an offsite backup.

Wiki

• Update the Audacity Versions page at https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audacity_Versions

Social Media etc

• RM: Announce the release to audacity-* mailing lists, SourceForge
• Peter: Announce to Facebook (and top pin?)
• Peter: Update Audacity Wikipedia page
• Steve: Make the Forum announcement.
• Steve: Update on KVR