Summer solstice release 5.8.0

[geoffmcl]

I have arbitrarily set the next release to June 24, 2018... in about 3 weeks...

The last release, 5.6.0, was on Nov 25, 2017, after some delays... that would be about 6 months... which seems about right...

At this time we only have about some 40 commits to next, but some of those have been very important fixes... like #739 ... in the remaining period maybe more could be added...

The following is a fluid situation, but is sort of a summary of outstanding issues...

There are presently 3 PR's. One requires a regression test change.

Two have had some rude words thrown at them, like ad hoc, confusing, ... and will have to wait for further fixes...

Then we have about nearly 70 open issues...

About a dozen are marked Bugs, but as yet no fix has been proposed or at least accepted... no PR...

A few are marked Docs which always needs improvement. There are some patch suggestions, but not yet a PR...

About 20 are marked Feature Request. Some are very good ideas, but no coding has yet been proposed...

About 20 are marked Technical Discussion, where for many, no current fix is suggested, or indicated...

So at the very least, many need their milestone extended...

There it is... should there be a release? Or wait longer? feedback welcome... thanks...

[ler762]

If you're waiting for a +1, here's mine

I'd like to have a new release, but dunno what I could do to help out.

[geoffmcl]

@ler762, thanks for the +1, and to all, but I am not getting any 'younger!' and spend a lot less time with my computer, so sadly no longer have the time for tidy, that I used to... so this, and other tidy matters/things are unlikely to be actioned by me anytime soon... sorry..

So unless this work is undertaken by the other 'admins', I suppose tidy should look for new maintainers... any offers, suggestions, ... ?

I may be able to supply a win64 binary release, after the release is all setup...

[balthisar]

I can supply binaries as well. I've got a six-month old, so similar time restraints as @geoffmcl, unfortunately.

My style is to attack something, and spend all of my time on it, which I'm unable to do right now. I can pitch in for smaller maintenance things and releases for now, and see how it works out in the future.

We've always looked for other maintainers, and that invitation is still out there!

@geoffmcl, what help do you need for a 5.8 release, if you think it's ready?

[ler762]

@geoffmcl I hope it's something good in your life that's leaving you no time for tidy.

I'm still very uncomfortable with git; I can help with documentation and testing but I'd probably cause more problems than progress trying to help with anything git related.

[geoffmcl]

@balthisar, I do not know if we need a 5.8 release... a quick review shows some 65 commits since the last, so this is positive... but there are outstanding PRs, some new, which I have not reviewed, but there also remains 70 plus issues, unresolved... so I do not know if it is ready... but would support one, with help...

@ler762, yes, the release process is mainly git/github, and it takes time to understand all that is involved... mainly a number of little steps, some of which need to be done in a timely manner, to set the version, the tag, and the branches...

But ok, if we are to proceed with The Release 5.8.0, as usual I have prepared a rough list...

Preparation:

• Create 5.10 milestone - Done
• Decision on PR's to include, bumping version.txt, accordingly...
• Change milestone of all excluded this time issues to 5.10, or indefinite...

The Release:

1. Update version.txt to 5.8.0, and date...
2. Create git TAG 5.8.0, create branch release/5.8, and push
3. Update README/vershist.log
4. Generate release 5.8.0.html

• Generate release binaries
• Add binaries
• Add api docs
• Update web pages
• Other things?

Post:

• Update master branch to release
• Update next version.txt to 5.9.0
• Add more binaries...

Maybe the list needs to be filled out... I have some scripts for the updating of vershist.log, and gen. of 5.8.0.html release notes, see rel.sample, as advised... see #334, #394, #471, maybe others..., so could do 1 thru 4, as usual... when/if the release date is definitively decided, and agreed... most dates are ok with me, except tomorrow, 30/8/2018 - will be out all day...

[geoffmcl]

Have arbitrarily set this weekend... Sept 1-2, 2018....

[ler762]

@geoffmcl if it's this weekend, does that answer your earlier

Decision on PR's to include
with 'with whatever is currently in branch next'?

I just did a pull on tidy-html5 & tidy-html5-tests, built tidy & ran the regression tests.
All passed :)

[balthisar]

I'll try to support this weekend. It's a long holiday weekend for us on this side of the pond.

[geoffmcl]

@ler762 no, no decision on PRs, and outstanding issues done by me... that is what I expect feedback on... some sort of review, as a yes/no list...

It is that decision which will begin to decide and agree a release date, if there is to be one...

Sorry, if the resetting of the 5.7 milestone confused the issue... forget that...

In my view of the past, the only PR I would include at this time is #731, #726, and note it includes regression test matching merge... but thank you @ler762 for conducting the tests with next... good to have confirmation of what I see in Windows for 5.7.16, since April...

I do not have time to review the 2 other recent PRs ... extra const #746 PR #747 and snap packaging #748 PR #749...

And since no current agreed fixes are available for many of the issues, in my view they would all be assigned another milestone... that is the release would almost be the current next... but I am just one voice... so for me it is just a case of choosing a suitable date...

This weekend turned out bad for me anyway... having a RAM upgrade problems in one of my main machines, which will reach into tomorrow now... so I am for later days/weeks/mth target date suggestions...

[ler762]

@geoffmcl If you pick a date for a release, isn't whatever that's in 'branch next' what goes out in that release? Or was this weekend supposed to be more of a final push for what all goes in 5.8?

I did a quick look in the docs & didn't see anything about the release process. Is that documented somewhere?

[geoffmcl]

Merged the #753 Fix type in the new RELEASE.md, but accidentally added with an Is #752 commit message...

As to a target release date, now I would suggest that be after the interesting can of worms exposed in exploring issue #752 - the mute option, and more... full satisfactory solution seems near, else move it to next release...