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Posted to dev@tomcat.apache.org by Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net> on 2022/03/14 16:44:56 UTC

Small problem with release process: version number publication

All,

The current release process as written ends up with the release-date of 
the latest release not appearing in the changelog until the *following* 
release is done.

I think we should change this. I have tried to remember to do it myself 
with 8.5.x when I do releases.

When we have monthly releases, it's not really a huge deal. But when the 
releases become less and less frequent (e.g. maintenance mode), then we 
have problems like this:

https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html
https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/changelog.html
https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/changelog.html

According to those changelogs, the latest releases do not have a 
release-date. But they were in fact released.

Are there any objections to making it a policy to update those 
changelogs with each actual release and not just the following release?

-chris

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Re: Small problem with release process: version number publication

Posted by Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>.
Mark,

On 3/14/22 14:24, Mark Thomas wrote:
> On 14/03/2022 16:44, Christopher Schultz wrote:
>> All,
>>
>> The current release process as written ends up with the release-date 
>> of the latest release not appearing in the changelog until the 
>> *following* release is done.
>>
>> I think we should change this. I have tried to remember to do it 
>> myself with 8.5.x when I do releases.
>>
>> When we have monthly releases, it's not really a huge deal. But when 
>> the releases become less and less frequent (e.g. maintenance mode), 
>> then we have problems like this:
>>
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/changelog.html
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/changelog.html
>>
>> According to those changelogs, the latest releases do not have a 
>> release-date. But they were in fact released.
> 
> I agree it isn't perfect but how much of a problem is that?
> 
>> Are there any objections to making it a policy to update those 
>> changelogs with each actual release and not just the following release?
> 
> Interesting. Looks like we've changed the text a little over the years. 
> We used to say "Released yyyy-mm-dd". Now it is just "yyyy-mm-dd".
> 
> The problem with setting the release date before we tag is that we don't 
> know the exact date the vote will pass. 3 working days is usually a good 
> guess. Is it good enough (assuming the date is corrected to the actual 
> date if necessary)?
> 
> What if we just set it to "released" and then changed that to the actual 
> release date once known? Or changed it to "release yyyy-mm-dd" like we 
> used to.

Whenever I do the release, I set the "release date" to the date I copied 
the release artifacts up to the distribution server. As a part of that 
post-VOTE promote-release process, I just make the change to the 
changelog at that point.

The actual release contains a changelog which says "Release in 
progress." So if you look at the docs/ webapp, you'llsee that your 
release build it "in progress." Maybe we should put the date in there, 
too, just in case someone is using their own local docs/ to determine 
the date of their build...

-chris

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Re: Small problem with release process: version number publication

Posted by Mark Thomas <ma...@apache.org>.
On 14/03/2022 16:44, Christopher Schultz wrote:
> All,
> 
> The current release process as written ends up with the release-date of 
> the latest release not appearing in the changelog until the *following* 
> release is done.
> 
> I think we should change this. I have tried to remember to do it myself 
> with 8.5.x when I do releases.
> 
> When we have monthly releases, it's not really a huge deal. But when the 
> releases become less and less frequent (e.g. maintenance mode), then we 
> have problems like this:
> 
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/changelog.html
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/changelog.html
> 
> According to those changelogs, the latest releases do not have a 
> release-date. But they were in fact released.

I agree it isn't perfect but how much of a problem is that?

> Are there any objections to making it a policy to update those 
> changelogs with each actual release and not just the following release?

Interesting. Looks like we've changed the text a little over the years. 
We used to say "Released yyyy-mm-dd". Now it is just "yyyy-mm-dd".

The problem with setting the release date before we tag is that we don't 
know the exact date the vote will pass. 3 working days is usually a good 
guess. Is it good enough (assuming the date is corrected to the actual 
date if necessary)?

What if we just set it to "released" and then changed that to the actual 
release date once known? Or changed it to "release yyyy-mm-dd" like we 
used to.

Mark

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Re: Small problem with release process: version number publication

Posted by Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>.
Konstantin,

On 3/14/22 16:23, Konstantin Kolinko wrote:
> пн, 14 мар. 2022 г. в 19:45, Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>:
>>
>> All,
>>
>> The current release process as written ends up with the release-date of
>> the latest release not appearing in the changelog until the *following*
>> release is done.
>>
>> I think we should change this. I have tried to remember to do it myself
>> with 8.5.x when I do releases.
>>
>> When we have monthly releases, it's not really a huge deal. But when the
>> releases become less and less frequent (e.g. maintenance mode), then we
>> have problems like this:
>>
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/changelog.html
>> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/changelog.html
>>
>> According to those changelogs, the latest releases do not have a
>> release-date. But they were in fact released.
> 
> 1. I see no real point.
> 
> a. For historic releases, those 3 files and also 4th
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-5.5-doc/changelog.html
> 
> can be hand-edited to add a release date. E.g. I can do this work.
> 
> The hard part is finding the actual dates.
> 
> b. For current releases,
> the date can be seen easily from an announcement at the front page of
> https://tomcat.apache.org/
> 
> Attracting more visitors to that page is a positive thing, I think.

So it's no problem, except that it's a problem now that we've forgotten 
what the dates are? That's a definite problem if you ask me.

>> Are there any objections to making it a policy to update those
>> changelogs with each actual release and not just the following release?
> 
> Let's keep it simple.
> 
> btw, I wonder whether release managers actually read the wiki each time
> https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/TOMCAT/ReleaseProcess

I read it and follow it. Every. Single. Time.

> also replying to a later mail:
> 
> пн, 14 мар. 2022 г. в 23:07, Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>:
>> [...]
>> The actual release contains a changelog which says "Release in
>> progress." So if you look at the docs/ webapp, you'llsee that your
> 
> I see that in your 8.5.x, but in 9.0,x and others it is done in a different way:
> - On the tag the changelog file has rtext="" (an empty string).
> https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/235730aed454e8d3619109f2c563587ff722e69d

It's been done inconsistently. I'm recommending that we become consistent.

> - On the source tree (on the active branch in git) it has rtext="in
> progress" or "release in progress"
> https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/b925f769668fee1b6febf12153205ff6bdfd1258
> 
> I think it makes more sense to do it this way (with rtext="" on the tag).

I will continue to try to make the changelogs as readable as possible 
for as many downstream subscribers as possible.

-chris

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Re: Small problem with release process: version number publication

Posted by Konstantin Kolinko <kn...@gmail.com>.
пн, 14 мар. 2022 г. в 19:45, Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>:
>
> All,
>
> The current release process as written ends up with the release-date of
> the latest release not appearing in the changelog until the *following*
> release is done.
>
> I think we should change this. I have tried to remember to do it myself
> with 8.5.x when I do releases.
>
> When we have monthly releases, it's not really a huge deal. But when the
> releases become less and less frequent (e.g. maintenance mode), then we
> have problems like this:
>
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-6.0-doc/changelog.html
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/changelog.html
> https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-8.0-doc/changelog.html
>
> According to those changelogs, the latest releases do not have a
> release-date. But they were in fact released.

1. I see no real point.

a. For historic releases, those 3 files and also 4th
https://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-5.5-doc/changelog.html

can be hand-edited to add a release date. E.g. I can do this work.

The hard part is finding the actual dates.

b. For current releases,
the date can be seen easily from an announcement at the front page of
https://tomcat.apache.org/

Attracting more visitors to that page is a positive thing, I think.

> Are there any objections to making it a policy to update those
> changelogs with each actual release and not just the following release?

Let's keep it simple.

btw, I wonder whether release managers actually read the wiki each time
https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/TOMCAT/ReleaseProcess


also replying to a later mail:

пн, 14 мар. 2022 г. в 23:07, Christopher Schultz <ch...@christopherschultz.net>:
> [...]
> The actual release contains a changelog which says "Release in
> progress." So if you look at the docs/ webapp, you'llsee that your

I see that in your 8.5.x, but in 9.0,x and others it is done in a different way:
- On the tag the changelog file has rtext="" (an empty string).
https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/235730aed454e8d3619109f2c563587ff722e69d

- On the source tree (on the active branch in git) it has rtext="in
progress" or "release in progress"
https://github.com/apache/tomcat/commit/b925f769668fee1b6febf12153205ff6bdfd1258

I think it makes more sense to do it this way (with rtext="" on the tag).

Best regards,
Konstantin Kolinko

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