News post for MacPorts 2.9.0-rc1

_posts/2024-01-16-macports-290-release-candidate-1-available.md

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+---
+title: MacPorts 2.9.0 release candidate 1 available
+slug: macports-290-release-candidate-1-available
+date: 2024-01-16 16:31:10
+---
+
+Source code and pkgs for MacPorts 2.9.0-rc1 are now
+[available][1]. Testing of either of these install methods is helpful.
+
+Be prepared to encounter bugs. As always, having a recent backup would
+be wise. Please [report][2] any bugs that you find (after first [searching
+Trac][3], of course!)
+
+If no show-stopping bugs are found in the next few days, this will
+become the 2.9.0 release.
+
+There are a large number of changes in this release. See the [ChangeLog][4]
+for a list of most of the major ones. You may like to focus your
+testing on the new features in that list, as well as your normal usage.
+
+Changes since beta1 are:
+ * Version number only.
+
+[1]: https://github.com/macports/macports-base/releases/tag/v2.9.0-rc1
+[2]: https://trac.macports.org/newticket
+[3]: https://trac.macports.org/search
+[4]: https://github.com/macports/macports-base/blob/release-2.9/ChangeLog