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+
+Putting out a new release
+-------------------------
+
+Here are the steps Roger takes when putting out a new Tor release:
+
+1. Use it for a while, as a client, as a relay, as a hidden service,
+   and as a directory authority. See if it has any obvious bugs, and
+   resolve those.
+
+   As applicable, merge the `maint-X` branch into the `release-X` branch.
+
+2. Gather the `changes/*` files into a changelog entry, rewriting many
+   of them and reordering to focus on what users and funders would find
+   interesting and understandable.
+
+   1. Make sure that everything that wants a bug number has one.
+      Make sure that everything which is a bugfix says what version
+      it was a bugfix on.
+
+   2. Concatenate them.
+
+   3. Sort them by section. Within each section, sort by "version it's
+      a bugfix on", else by numerical ticket order.
+
+   4. Clean them up:
+
+      Standard idioms:
+      `Fixes bug 9999; bugfix on 0.3.3.3-alpha.`
+
+      One space after a period.
+
+      Make stuff very terse
+
+      Make sure each section name ends with a colon
+
+      Describe the user-visible problem right away
+
+      Mention relevant config options by name.  If they're rare or unusual,
+      remind people what they're for
+
+      Avoid starting lines with open-paren
+
+      Present and imperative tense: not past.
+
+      'Relays', not 'servers' or 'nodes' or 'Tor relays'.
+
+      "Stop FOOing", not "Fix a bug where we would FOO".
+
+      Try not to let any given section be longer than about a page. Break up
+      long sections into subsections by some sort of common subtopic. This
+      guideline is especially important when organizing Release Notes for
+      new stable releases.
+
+      If a given changes stanza showed up in a different release (e.g.
+      maint-0.2.1), be sure to make the stanzas identical (so people can
+      distinguish if these are the same change).
+
+   5. Merge them in.
+
+   6. Clean everything one last time.
+
+   7. Run `./scripts/maint/format_changelog.py` to make it prettier.
+
+3. Compose a short release blurb to highlight the user-facing
+   changes. Insert said release blurb into the ChangeLog stanza. If it's
+   a stable release, add it to the ReleaseNotes file too. If we're adding
+   to a release-0.2.x branch, manually commit the changelogs to the later
+   git branches too.
+
+   If you're doing the first stable release in a series, you need to
+   create a ReleaseNotes for the series as a whole.  To get started
+   there, copy all of the Changelog entries from the series into a new
+   file, and run `./scripts/maint/sortChanges.py` on it.  That will
+   group them by category.  Then kill every bugfix entry for fixing
+   bugs that were introduced within that release series; those aren't
+   relevant changes since the last series.  At that point, it's time
+   to start sorting and condensing entries.  (Generally, we don't edit the
+   text of existing entries, though.)
+
+4. In `maint-0.2.x`, bump the version number in `configure.ac` and run
+   `scripts/maint/updateVersions.pl` to update version numbers in other
+   places, and commit.  Then merge `maint-0.2.x` into `release-0.2.x`.
+
+   (NOTE: To bump the version number, edit `configure.ac`, and then run
+   either `make`, or `perl scripts/maint/updateVersions.pl`, depending on
+   your version.)
+
+5. Make distcheck, put the tarball up somewhere, and tell `#tor` about
+   it. Wait a while to see if anybody has problems building it. Try to
+   get Sebastian or somebody to try building it on Windows.
+
+6. Get at least two of weasel/arma/Sebastian to put the new version number
+   in their approved versions list.
+
+7. Sign the tarball, then sign and push the git tag:
+
+        gpg -ba <the_tarball>
+        git tag -u <keyid> tor-0.2.x.y-status
+        git push origin tag tor-0.2.x.y-status
+
+8. scp the tarball and its sig to the dist website, i.e.
+   `/srv/dist-master.torproject.org/htdocs/` on dist-master. When you want
+   it to go live, you run "static-update-component dist.torproject.org"
+   on dist-master.
+
+   Edit `include/versions.wmi` and `Makefile` to note the new version.
+
+   (NOTE: Due to #17805, there can only be one stable version listed at
+   once.  Nonetheless, do not call your version "alpha" if it is stable,
+   or people will get confused.)
+
+9. Email the packagers (cc'ing tor-assistants) that a new tarball is up.
+   The current list of packagers is:
+
+       - {weasel,gk,mikeperry} at torproject dot org
+       - {blueness} at gentoo dot org
+       - {paul} at invizbox dot io
+       - {ondrej.mikle} at gmail dot com
+       - {lfleischer} at archlinux dot org
+       - {tails-dev} at boum dot org
+
+10. Add the version number to Trac.  To do this, go to Trac, log in,
+    select "Admin" near the top of the screen, then select "Versions" from
+    the menu on the left.  At the right, there will be an "Add version"
+    box.  By convention, we enter the version in the form "Tor:
+    0.2.2.23-alpha" (or whatever the version is), and we select the date as
+    the date in the ChangeLog.
+
+11. Forward-port the ChangeLog (and ReleaseNotes if appropriate).
+
+12. Wait up to a day or two (for a development release), or until most
+    packages are up (for a stable release), and mail the release blurb and
+    changelog to tor-talk or tor-announce.
+
+   (We might be moving to faster announcements, but don't announce until
+   the website is at least updated.)
+
+13. If it's a stable release, bump the version number in the `maint-x.y.z`
+    branch to "newversion-dev", and do a `merge -s ours` merge to avoid
+    taking that change into master.  Do a similar `merge -s theirs`
+    merge to get the change (and only that change) into release.  (Some
+    of the build scripts require that maint merge cleanly into release.)