org-mode/README_maintainer

# -*- mode:org -*-

#+TITLE: Org maintainer tasks
#+STARTUP: noindent
#+OPTIONS: ^:nil

This document describes the tasks the Org-mode maintainer has to do
and how they are performed.

* Git workflow

The git repository has two branches:

- master :: for current development.

- maint :: for bug fixes against latest major or minor release.

Bug fixes always go on =maint= then are merged on =master=.

New features always go on =master=.

* Releasing

** Major release

The release number for main releases look like this: =9.1=

Main releases are made whenever Org is in a state where the feature
set is consistent and we feel that the features that are implemented
is something we want to support in the future.

A major release turns the current state of the master branch into a
release.

When doing a /major release/, make sure all changes from the maint
branch are merged into the the master branch, then merge the master
branch back into maint to synchronize the two.

** Minor release

The release number for minor releases look like this: =9.1.7=

Minor releases are small amends to main releases.  Usually they fix
critical bugs discovered in a main release.  Minor bugs are usually
not fixed -- they will be adressed in the next main release.

Only the fix to the bug is bundled into a release, without the main
development work going on in the master branch.  Since the bug fix
will also be needed in the master branch, usually the fix is made in
maint then merged in master.

** Tagging the release

When doing a major and a minor release, after all necessary merging is
done, tag the _maint_ branch for the release with:

  git tag -a release_9.1.7 -m "Adding release tag"

and push tags with

  git push --tags

We also encourage you to sign release tags like this:

  git tag -s release_9.1.7 -m "Adding release tag"

** Uploading the release files from the orgmode.org server

Log on the orgmode.org server as the emacs user and cd to
~/git/org-mode

From there do

  make release
  make upload

to create the =.tar.gz= and =.zip= files, the documentation, and to upload
everything at the right place.

* Available Org's builds on the server

There are two cron tasks on the server: one that builds the ELPA
packages and one that builds =org-latest.tar.gz= and =org-latest.zip=.

ELPA packages are built from the *maint* branch.  One ELPA package
contains Org's core, another one called "org-plus-contrib" contains
Org and contributed libraries.

=org-latest*= snapshots are built from the *master* branch.

* Synchronization Org and upstream Emacs

Below it is described how Org is kept in sync with the upstream Emacs.

** Backporting changes from upstream Emacs

Sometimes Emacs maintainers make changes to Org files.  The process of
propagating the changes back to the Org repository is called
/backporting/ for historical reasons.

To find changes that need to be backported from the Emacs repository,
the following =git= command, courtesy of [[http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel/215861][Kyle Meyer]], can be used:

#+begin_src shell
  git log $rev..origin/emacs-25 -- lisp/org doc/misc/org.texi \
    etc/refcards/orgcard.tex etc/ORG-NEWS etc/org \
    etc/schema/od-manifest-schema-v1.2-os.rnc \
    etc/schema/od-schema-v1.2-os.rnc
#+end_src

here, =$rev= is the last commit from the =emacs-25= branch that was
backported.  The should also be done for the =master= branch.

There is also a [[http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/atom/lisp/org/][feed]] to keep track of new changes in the =lisp/org=
folder in the Emacs repository.

** Updating the Org version in upstream Emacs

New releases of Org should be added to the [[https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git][Emacs repository]].

Typically, Org can be synchronized by copying over files from the
=emacs-sync= branch of the Org repository to the =master= branch of Emacs
repository.  The =emacs-sync= branch has a few extra changes compared
with the =maint= branch.  If the Emacs maintainers are planning a new
release of Emacs soon, it is possible that another branch should be
used.

If the new release of Org contains many changes, it may be useful to
use a separate branch before merging, e.g. =scratch/org-mode-merge=.
This branch can then be merged with the =master= branch, when everything
has been tested.

Please see [[http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/tree/CONTRIBUTE][CONTRIBUTE]] in the Emacs repository for guidelines on
contributing to the Emacs repository.

*** Where to files go

The following list shows where files in Org repository are copied to
in the Emacs repository, folder by folder.

**** =org-mode/doc=

- =org.texi= :: Copy to =emacs/doc/misc=.  It may be necessary to replace,
     ~@include org-version.inc~ with ~@set VERSION 9.0.9~ or similar.

- =orgcard.tex= :: Copy to =emacs/etc/refcards=.  Make sure that
     ~\def\orgversionnumber~ and ~\def\versionyear~ are up to date.

**** =org-mode/etc=

- =styles/*= :: Copy to =emacs/etc/org=.

- =schema/*.rnc= :: Copy to =emacs/etc/schema=.

- =schema/schemas.xml= :: Any new entries in this file should be added
     to =emacs/etc/schema/schemas.xml=.

- =ORG-NEWS= :: Copy to =emacs/etc=

**** =org-mode/lisp=

- Copy =*.el= files to =emacs/lisp/org=, except =org-loaddefs.el=!

- You should create =org-version.el= in =emacs/lisp/org=.  The file is
  created when you =make= Org.

**** TODO =org-mode/testing=

*** Update  =emacs/etc/NEWS=

Whenever a new (major) version of Org is synchronized to the Emacs
repository, it should be mentioned in the NEWS file.

* Updating the list of hooks/commands/options on Worg

Load the =mk/eldo.el= file then =M-x eldo-make-doc RET=.

This will produce an org file with the documentation.

Import this file into =worg/doc.org=, leaving the header untouched
(except for the release number).

Then commit and push the change on the =worg.git= repository.

* Copyright assignments

The maintainer needs to keep track of copyright assignments.  Even
better, find a volunteer to do this.

The assignment form is included in the repository as a file that you
can send to contributors: =request-assign-future.txt=

The list of all contributors from who we have the papers is kept on
Worg at https://orgmode.org/worg/org-contribute.html, so that
committers can check if a patch can go into the core.

The assignment process does not allways go smoothly, and it has
happened several times that it gets stuck or forgotten at the FSF.
The contact at the FSF for this is: mailto:copyright-clerk@fsf.org

Emails from the paper submitter have been ignored in the past, but an
email from me (Carsten) as the maintainer of Org mode has usually
fixed such cases within a few days.