[Axiom-developer] new AXIOM release(s)

[daly]

> 1) IMHO publish release as CVS tree on SorceForge is bad practice...

That's unlikely to change, at least by me. I'm only trying to maintain
the source tree, not the release of binaries. The sources also live at
savannah.nongnu.org (CVS), axiom-developer.org (arch), and 
sourceforge.net (SVN), as well as on google.

I could create a tarball and store it on these sites except for one
problem, ... time. I simply don't have the time. I'm not a company.
I'm one guy sitting in a room working on this at night and on weekends
as a hobby.  However, if you have the interest you could maintain
tarballs on these sites.  Advocacy is volunteering.

I put together a web page showing a grid of binaries and their
platforms (<http://daly.axiom-developer.org/axiombinary>) which was
mentioned on this list a while ago and, I believe, was picked up by
<http://wiki.axiom-developer.org> (I don't see it there now). However,
no one has contributed any binaries.



> 2) I'd like to see some consistent version numbering scheme....

Check the mailing list archives. We've had this discussion and
several schemes were proposed, such as the usual Major.Minor.Patch
schemes. We settled on a version scheme, which is consistent, 
which is machine checkable, and which has been used for years.

There is a VERSION variable in the top level Makefile.
This variable is changed with every new release of the source code.

This version is printed in the banner when Axiom starts:

                AXIOM Computer Algebra System
                Version: Axiom (September 2006)
      Timestamp: Thursday December 14, 2006 at 20:11:24

The Version: says what source release was used for the build.
The Timestamp: says what date and time the binary build occurred.

The VERSION variable is: boot::*build-version* which you can access:


 -> _*BUILD_-VERSION_*$Lisp
 (1) Axiom (September 2006)
                                              Type: SExpression

 -> )lisp *build-version*
 Value = "Axiom (September 2006)"

Since source releases occur (on a best-effort) basis every two months
there is no ambiguity to the Month-Year format. 


The TIMESTAMP variable is: boot::*yearweek* which you can access:

 -> _*YEARWEEK_*$Lisp
 (2) Thursday December 14, 2006 at 20:11:24 
                                              Type: SExpression

 -> )lisp *yearweek*
 Value = "Thursday December 14, 2006 at 20:11:24 "

The variable name "yearweek" comes from the fact that I used to release
Axiom on a weekly basis when I was at IBM and it was my primary job.

Tim