title: QuArK Release Policy
author: Peter Brett

QuArK has two types of releases: distributions and snapshots.

<ol>
<li>Distributions are released through the SourceForge Release System.
A distribution consists of the following files:
<ul>
<li><tt>quark-win32-*version*.exe</tt> - a Nullsoft Scriptable Install
System executable containing the QuArK Windows binaries with a bundled
Python micro-distribution and the Infobase.</li>
<li><tt>quark-win32-*version*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing the
QuArK Windows binaries with a bundled Python micro-distribution and
the Infobase.</li>
<li><tt>quark-src-*version*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing full
exports of the <tt>infobase</tt>, <tt>runtime</tt> and <tt>source</tt> CVS modules.</li>
<li><tt>quark-help-*version*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing the
compiled Infobase.</li>
</ul>
You will need to have "Release Technician" permissions on the QuArK
SourceForge project to be able to release a distribution.

N.B. that version numbers are in the format
<tt>#.#.#state#</tt> where 'state' can be one of 'rel', 'beta', or
'alpha'.  The numbers before the current state are the major and minor
versions, and the number after the state is the release number at that
version/state. Examples:<ul><li><tt>6.4.0alpha1</tt>. Note also that version numbers should be <strong>unique</strong>.</li>
<li><tt>6.3.0rel4</tt></li></ul>
</li>
<li>Snapshots are released on <link project>QuArK's SourceForge webspace</link>.
A snapshot consists of the following files:
<ul>
<li><tt>quark-win32-*date*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing the QuArK
Windows binaries with a bundled Python micro-distribution and the 
Infobase.</li>
<li><tt>quark-src-*date*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing full
exports of the <tt>infobase</tt>, <tt>runtime</tt> and <tt>source</tt>
CVS modules.</li>
<li><tt>quark-help-*date*.zip</tt> - a zip archive containing the
compiled Infobase.</li>
</ul>
You will need to have access to the QuArK project's SourceForge
webspace (i.e. a SourceForge shell account is required) to be able to
release a snapshot.

N.B. that dates should be in the format <tt>YYYYMMDD</tt>.
</li>
</ol>

Typically, QuArK snapshots are released every couple of weeks,
although this may vary depending on how much work is being done.  If
two weeks go by with very little CVS activity, there won't be much
point in making a snapshot; equally, if things are frantic, it's
likely we'll do snapshots more frequently.  Also, it depends how much
time the release technicians have available.

Distributions are done on a much less frequent basis, because they
require much more work on the part of whoever's doing the releases.
