[fpc-devel] [RFC] Modernising the FPC Release Process -- Proposal for Review

[Tomas Hajny]

On 2026-04-15 18:24, Michael Van Canneyt via fpc-devel wrote:
> On Wed, 15 Apr 2026, Tomas Hajny via fpc-devel wrote:
>> On 2026-04-15 17:53, Michael Van Canneyt via fpc-devel wrote:
>>> On Wed, 15 Apr 2026, Tomas Hajny via fpc-devel wrote:
>>>> On 2026-04-15 15:18, Graeme Geldenhuys via fpc-devel wrote:
>> 
>> .
>> .
>>>>>   * Automation for the fpc/build repository: when fpcsrc is tagged
>>>>>     with a release or RC tag, a GitLab CI pipeline automatically
>>>>>     pins the submodule pointers in fpc/build and applies the same
>>>>>     tag there, eliminating the manual submodule update step.
>>>> 
>>>> Please, read the discussion (especially our communication with 
>>>> Martin F.) to get better understanding why this particular part 
>>>> doesn't fit the needs. I don't say that nothing might ever change in 
>>>> this area compared to the current state, but please note that 
>>>> cross-building is _not_ applicable for all FPC supported targets and 
>>>> thus building for all targets cannot be tested / checked by a single 
>>>> person or anything like that - which is why testing the release 
>>>> build against once created tag is not enough.
>>> 
>>> No, but we definitely can automate it for the major platforms.
>> .
>> .
>> 
>> Please, note what kind of "automation" is mentioned above
> 
> I did, and I followed the discussion. I don't see the problem at all.
> 
> Maybe you can explain it as you seem to understand it ?

If I understand it correctly, this part of the proposal suggests 
replacing the current mechanism of keeping fpcbuild repository up to 
date (i.e. keeping the latest versions of the submodules always 
available in the fpcbuild repository) with one time synchronization only 
when a particular tag is applied to fpcbuild. That would mean that 
building the most up to date version for individual targets could not be 
tested before applying the tag (and that testing it again after any 
applied fixes would always need manual synchronization). And that would 
not be a good idea at all as far as I can tell...

Tomas