Development:Release Procedure

Timelines

 * 1) Feature Freeze: 4 weeks before release
 * 2) String Freeze: 2 weeks before release
 * 3) Translations Deadline: Thursday before release
 * 4) Merge Proposal Freeze: Thursday midnight
 * 5) Merge Freeze: Friday noon
 * 6) Test Release: Friday midnight
 * 7) Source Code Build: Saturday noon
 * 8) Package Release: Saturday 18:00 UTC
 * 9) Release Announcement: Sunday

Feature Freeze
No more features can be committed to trunk after this. Any new features will not be merged. In addition avoid any code tidies that don't perform any functional benefit. E.g. changing variable names, moving modules etc.

String Freeze
Developers will cease to make any changes, or add any new strings after this deadline.

Translations Deadline
The last date by when translators can submit translations via Pootle or merge proposals.

Merge Proposal Freeze
Merges proposed after this date will have to wait for after the release before they can be committed.

Merge Freeze
All merge proposals need to be merged by the merge freeze.

Test Release
A test release is created, so that the developers can make sure there are no last minute issues.

Source Code Build
A final source tarball is created.

Package Release
Packages are built and released.

Release Announcement
The release announcement is published on the OpenLP site and the download page is updated.