commit 93ed90e8f5b258583da211f722762dd030de2ff9
parent eb1c21f154b6ff647e3f10b17e65b71d9cb4a4fa
Author: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2024 12:13:32 +0100
add docs/release.md
Signed-off-by: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>
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+# Hare release policy
+
+Hare ships quarterly releases as we work towards Hare 1.0. Releases use the
+versioning scheme 0.**YY**.**Q**, where YY is the two-digit release year and Q
+is the quarter number (from zero); so the release in Q1 2024 is 0.24.0.
+
+The Hare toolchain's chief dependency is [qbe]. Each Hare version is pinned to a
+specific qbe release, which is documented in the release notes corresponding to
+that Hare version.
+
+[qbe]: https://c9x.me/compile/
+
+The current release manager is Drew DeVault.
+
+## Breaking changes
+
+Breaking changes to the standard library which are included in each release are
+documented in the release notes. Authors of such changes are encouraged to
+include a detailed summary of the breaking change in their commit message, for
+example:
+
+```
+strings: rename pad functions per convention
+
+The following functions in strings:: have been renamed:
+
+* strings::padstart renamed to strings::lpad
+* strings::padend renamed to strings::rpad
+
+This is a breaking change.
+```
+
+The release manager will collect breaking changes and summarize them in
+the release notes for affected versions, providing instructions for affected
+users to update their code. If possible, an automated migration procedure will
+be prepared on a best-effort basis.
+
+## Release process
+
+One or two weeks prior to the start of each financial quarter, the release
+manager will prepare a release branch named "v0.**YY**.**Q**" cut from the
+latest master branch, and tag 0.YY.Q-rc1 from this branch, notifying hare-dev
+with a preliminary changelog.
+
+Each week following rc1, the release manager will make a judgement call on the
+release's quality based on feedback from the community; if the release is not
+ready then any additional bugfixes will be cherry-picked from master and rcN+1
+tagged. If the release is determiend to be ready, 0.YY.Q is tagged and the
+release notes are posted to hare-announce.
+
+## Extended library
+
+The extended library will ship tagged releases which track Hare releases.
+However, the extended library does not necessarily change often; in a given
+quarter most extended libraries will not have received any patches. As such, new
+releases for the extlib are only tagged upon request, or if necessity demands
+(such as when updated to address a breaking change).
