When doing a release there are many things to check first:
Setting the correct version number for the release is very important. There are two approaches:
versions.ini
file (when using
the script)versions.ini
then you must set the version number
to these components:
FRHED/version.h
)versions.ini
file with
correct version numbers and the script updates all needed versioning
information for you.
The recommended way to do a Frhed release is to use the Python script
(Tools/create_release.py
) for it. After the script finishes you'll
have ready installer and executable and source folder ready to be added to zips.
The script uses another scripts to set version numbers, build manual etc.
The script must be run in command prompt. As it is Python script you'll need to run it with Python. The script needs name of the version ini file as parameter. For example:
python create_release.py versions.ini
In addition to the installer executable, it is very much recommeded to release executable files as a zip. This allows advanced users to do their custom installations. And it also allows installing the software without privileges or running executables.
You must publish the sources! The GPL license requires you to publish any changes to the sources you have done. The best practice is to always release source package with executables.
The release script creates source folder which you can just zip and release.
Please name the released zips so that it is easy to see what they contain.
For example you can add src
or bin
as a part of the
file names.
Yes, you are sure you don't have viruses in your computer. But users who are downloading the software cannot know it! You must convince them that the executables are safe to download and run.
Running the virus checking and adding a mention that released files have been checked is a must. And if possible also mention the virus checker name/version/ update date. So users can consider if the checking is good enough for them to trust.
Another important thing is to make sure users download exactly the same files you have released. That nobody has been able to modify the files (like add viruses or other harmful content). The best way is to create checksums for the files you released and add those checksums to release info.
One handy tool to create checksums is the CheckSumTool.