Merge pull request ethereum#217 from etclabscore/feat/docs-releases

docs/core/releases.md: add documentation for release patterns

Author: meowsbits

docs/core/releases.md

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Releases
+
+## Versioning
+
+etclabscore/core-geth uses [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org). The API definition that would demand increments to the major version is basically nil;
+it can be expected that a major version bump would be accompanied by an entirely new repository and name.
+
+Tagged versions use the suffix `-stable` and untagged versions (ie everything else) uses the `-unstable` suffix.
+
+You can find some historical discussions on versioning at the following links.
+- https://github.com/etclabscore/core-geth/pull/29#issuecomment-588977383  
+- https://github.com/etclabscore/multi-geth-fork/issues/153
+- https://github.com/etclabscore/core-geth/pull/30#issuecomment-591979271
+- https://github.com/etclabscore/core-geth/issues/83
+
+
+## Developers: How to make a release
+
+- [ ] Decide what the new version should be. In this example, __`v1.11.16[-stable]`__ will be used. 
+- [ ] `git checkout master`
+- [ ] `make lint` and `make test` are passing on master. :white_check_mark:
+  > This is important because the artifacts to be included with the release will be generated
+  by the CI workflows. If linting or tests fail, the workflows will be interrupted
+  and artifacts will not be generated.
+- [ ] `git checkout release/v1.11.16`
+- [ ] Edit `params/version.go` making the necessary changes to version information. (To `-stable` version.) _Gotcha:_ make sure this passes linting, too.
+- [ ] `git commit -S -s -m "bump version from v1.11.16-unstable to v1.11.16-stable"`
+- [ ] `git tag -S -a v1.11.16`
+- [ ] `git push etclabscore v1.11.16`
+  > Push the tag to the remote. I like to do it this way because it triggers the tagged version on CI before the branch/PR version,
+  expediting artifact delivery.
+- [ ] Edit `params/version.go` making the necessary changes to version information. (To `-unstable` version.)
+- [ ] `git commit -S -s -m "bump version from v1.11.16-stable to v1.11.17-unstable"`
+- [ ] `git push etclabscore`
+  > Push the branch. This will get PR'd, eg. https://github.com/etclabscore/core-geth/pull/197
+- [ ] Draft a new release, following the existing patterns for naming and notes. https://github.com/etclabscore/core-geth/releases/new
+  > - Define the tag the release should be associated with (eg `v1.11.16`).
+  > - Linux, OSX, and Windows artifacts will be uploaded automatically to this release draft by the CI jobs. There should be CI-generated 16 assets total.
+  > - __NOTE__ If the release is not drafted manually, it will be automatically drafted by the CI.
+- [ ] Await a complete set of uploaded artifacts. If artifacts fail to upload due to issue with the CI jobs, review
+  those jobs to determine if their failure(s) is OK, restarting them if so. 
+- [ ] Once artifacts have been uploaded and the release draft reviewed by one other person for the following, it's time to publish!
+  + proofreading
+  + artifact fingerprint verification
+  + notes content approval
+- [ ] Once the release is published, merge the associated PR bumping versions.