🐫How To Release

How to release open-source software? Basically, the process can be broken down into several steps:

  1. Writing the code

  2. Making a git tag

  3. Publishing

I will write a cheatsheet or an instruction for myself about releasing new version of Betula.

Writing the code

This is the simplest and the funniest part. You know how to do it, probably. When doing so, do your best to commit properly.

Testing is also important. Betula has tests both in Go, which are run automatically on SourceHut, and a shell script for testing the front-end behaviour. Run the latter from time to time, and especially when changing the front-end. Make it work if it fails.

Making a git tag

Git tags is what software forges list. I don't really like them, because they are hard-wrapped and are in plain text. But it is what we do!

Consider we are releasing v9.9.9. Let's see a summary of commits from the last release, v9.9.8. To save them to ~/tmp, run: 

git shortlog v9.9.8...HEAD > ~/tmp

To make an annotated tag: 

git tag -a v9.9.9

An editor pops up. Write that: 

Betula v9.9.9

<Optional text. Leave empty if nothing good to write, such as urging users to update due to security issues.>

Release notes:

=> https://betula.mycorrhiza.wiki/v9.9.9.html

<Contents of ~/tmp go here>

Save and exit.

Publishing

SourceHut will do the thing alright, don't think about it anymore. I don't bother myself with making special Release pages for mirrors: Codeberg and the other forge. They shall use the git tag.

Gotta write the actual release notes page!

In the website repo, create v9.9.9.myco. Follow the overall structure from the previous release. Make a good summary of changes in this release. Link it from the index page.

Don't forget to make a screenshot! Scale it down 2x. ImageCompress it. Add it both to the release page and the index page.

Then write announcements to the parasocial networks:

Take a rest.