From f16a3fdf35e3ad4c9b8aaef705e234ef8a2abfdf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Tigran Najaryan <4194920+tigrannajaryan@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 7 May 2024 12:17:27 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Fix RELEASING.md document (#548)

The document is outdated. We are now using Github's release feature.

Resolves https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/issues/508

Co-authored-by: Armin Ruech <7052238+arminru@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 RELEASING.md | 97 ++++++++--------------------------------------------
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 82 deletions(-)

diff --git a/RELEASING.md b/RELEASING.md
index 207d234a9..5546cd8e0 100644
--- a/RELEASING.md
+++ b/RELEASING.md
@@ -1,89 +1,22 @@
-# How to Create a Release of OpenTelemetry Proto (for Maintainers Only)
+# How to Create a Release
 
-## Tagging the Release
+_Instruction for Maintainers only._
 
-Our release branches follow the naming convention of `v<major>.<minor>.x`, while
-the tags include the patch version `v<major>.<minor>.<patch>`. For example, the
-same branch `v0.3.x` would be used to create all `v0.3` tags (e.g. `v0.3.0`,
-`v0.3.1`).
+- Prepare the release by updating [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md), see for example
+[this PR](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/pull/537).
+Merge the PR. From this point on no new PRs can be merged until the release is complete.
 
-In this section upstream repository refers to the main opentelemetry-proto
-github repository.
+- Go to Github [release page](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/releases),
+click `Draft a new release`.
 
-Before any push to the upstream repository you need to create a [personal access
-token](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line/).
+- Click "Choose a tag" and specify the next version number. The Target branch should be "main".
 
-1. Create the release branch and push it to GitHub:
+- Click "Generate release notes" to get a draft release note. Remove editorial
+changes from the notes and any other changes that you don't want in the release notes.
+In addition, you can refer to [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) for a list of major changes since last release.
 
-    ```bash
-    MAJOR=0 MINOR=3 PATCH=0 # Set appropriately for new release
-    git checkout -b v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x main
-    git push upstream v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x
-    ```
+- Click "Publish Release".
 
-2. Enable branch protection for the new branch, if you have admin access.
-   Otherwise, let someone with admin access know that there is a new release
-   branch.
-
-    - Open the branch protection settings for the new branch, by following
-      [Github's instructions](https://help.github.com/articles/configuring-protected-branches/).
-    - Copy the settings from a previous branch, i.e., check
-      - `Protect this branch`
-      - `Require pull request reviews before merging`
-      - `Require status checks to pass before merging`
-      - `Include administrators`
-
-      Enable the following required status checks:
-      - `cla/linuxfoundation`
-      - `ci/circleci: build`
-    - Uncheck everything else.
-    - Click "Save changes".
-
-3. For `vMajor.Minor.x` branch:
-
-    - Create and push a tag:
-
-    ```bash
-    git checkout v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x
-    git pull upstream v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x
-    git tag -a v$MAJOR.$MINOR.$PATCH -m "Version $MAJOR.$MINOR.$PATCH"
-    git push upstream v$MAJOR.$MINOR.$PATCH
-    ```
-
-## Patch Release
-
-All patch releases should include only bug-fixes, and must avoid
-adding/modifying the public APIs. To cherry-pick one commit use the following
-instructions:
-
-- Create and push a tag:
-
-```bash
-COMMIT=1224f0a # Set the right commit hash.
-git checkout -b cherrypick v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x
-git cherry-pick -x $COMMIT
-git commit -a -m "Cherry-pick commit $COMMIT"
-```
-
-- Go through PR review and merge it to GitHub v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x branch.
-
-- Tag a new patch release when all commits are merged.
-
-## Announcement
-
-Once deployment is done, go to Github [release
-page](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/releases), press
-`Draft a new release` to write release notes about the new release.
-
-You can use `git log upstream/v$MAJOR.$((MINOR-1)).x..upstream/v$MAJOR.$MINOR.x --graph --first-parent`
-or the Github [compare tool](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/compare/)
-to view a summary of all commits since last release as a reference.
-
-In addition, you can refer to [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md)
-for a list of major changes since last release.
-
-## Update release versions in documentations and CHANGELOG files
-
-After releasing is done, you need to update [README.md](README.md) and [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md).
-
-Create a PR to mark the new release in [CHANGELOG.md](CHANGELOG.md) on main branch.
+Our tags follow the naming convention of `v1.<minor>.<patch>`. Increment `minor` by 1
+and use `patch` value of 0 for new minor version releases. For patch releases keep `minor`
+unchanged and increment the `patch`.