Release & Versioning Policy
Vertex Linux treats each public release as a clean rebuild. The distribution is re-bootstrapped and any package that introduces ABI changes is rebuilt against the latest toolchain before the tag ships.
Full Re-bootstrap
Every release cycle begins with a complete bootstrap of the base system. The toolchain, standard libraries, and core utilities are rebuilt from source to guarantee that the published artifacts reflect the current build recipes.
- Start from the official bootstrap scripts to generate a fresh environment.
- Verify that the resulting toolchain matches the release target (compiler, libc, and essential utilities).
- Discard intermediate artifacts after validation so subsequent steps operate on the clean output.
ABI Rebuild Policy
After the base system is ready, rebuild any package that carries ABI-impacting changes so the release bundles the latest compatible binaries.
- Identify packages that expose shared libraries or system interfaces with version bumps or breaking changes.
- Rebuild those packages inside the freshly bootstrapped environment to ensure linkage against the new toolchain.
- Publish the rebuilt artifacts alongside the release so downstream users receive a consistent ABI surface.
Pre-release Checklist
- Confirm that the bootstrap stage finished without local modifications.
- Audit the package set for ABI-breaking updates and rebuild the affected entries.
- Regenerate release notes highlighting the packages that were rebuilt due to ABI updates.
- Tag the release only after both the base system and rebuilt packages pass validation.