Here is a list of steps that are taken every time when creating a new gEDA/gaf release: 
-  Update the toplevel NEWS file with a summary of all the changes in the new release.  The NEWS file forms the basis for the release notes. 
-  Manually run all tests.  gnetlist has a nice set of regression tests in gnetlist/tests.  gsymcheck also has a nice set of regression tests in gsymcheck/tests.  Open up all schematics in gschem/examples and gschem/tests.  You can do this by running the following in the toplevel directory: 
        make check
-  Run make update-po in all po directories.  Commit these changes before continuing. 
-  In the toplevel configure.ac file update the package version in the AC_INIT macro, the date in the AX_GIT_VERSION macro, and update libgeda’s shared library version (libgeda’s so version should follow what is described in  Autobook's library versioning-  chapter). 
-  Update all the versions and dates in the man pages (gschem.1, gnetlist.1, gsymcheck.1) 
-  Update the wiki documentation (this is far far far too manual) 
        cd docs
        mkdir wip
        cd wip
        ../scripts/wikifetch.sh
        rm -f *.txt
        mv geda.seul.org/wiki/* .
        rmdir geda.seul.org/wiki
        rmdir geda.seul.org
        ../scripts/postproc.sh
        find . -name *.orig -exec rm -f {} \; -print
        cd ..
        scripts/copygitignores.sh
        cd wip
        ../scripts/populatemkfiles.sh
        vi `find . -name Makefile.am`   (Make sure all files have correct install path)
        cd ..
        diff -r -q wiki wip  | grep -v Only | sed "s/Files /tkdiff /" | sed "s/ and//" | sed "s/differ//" > diffs
        sh diffs  (and examine all changes; you need to have tkdiff installer or use just plain diff above)
        mv wiki wiki.original
        mv wip wiki
        git status  
        git add <any new files>
        git commit -a
        make distcheck   
and make sure it completes without any errors.  After this is complete you will find the distribution tarball in the toplevel directory (named gEDA-gaf-VERSION.tar.gz).
        md5sum -b gEDA-gaf-1.5.3.tar.gz > gEDA-gaf-1.5.3.md5sum
-  Untar the tarballs and compare what is inside to what is in the repository.  You should only find additional dist files inside the tarballs and no missing required files. 
-  Build and test the distribution tarball one last time. 
-  Make sure everything is committed and pushed and then put down the correctly formatted tag: 
        git tag -a 1.5.3-20090829
        git push origin remote_branch_name
        git push --tags
-  Upload distribution tarball, README, and md5sum file to the correct place 
-  Write release announcement and send to mailing lists 
-  Write up release notes and send pointer to mailing lists (named: gEDA-gaf-VERSION-releasenotes.html) 
-  Update news update the sources download pages on the website with links to the new version 
-  Update the geda:todos page moving the release into the historical todos page. 
-  Done!