[Question] Use annotated tags for future releases

[stweil]

Please use annotated tags instead of lightweight tags for future releases of kitodo-presentation. Ideally the tags should also be signed with a key.

Citation from man git-tag:
"Annotated tags are meant for release while lightweight tags are meant for private or temporary object labels."

Meanwhile there are 3663 commits since the last annotated tag.

[sebastian-meyer]

What's the benefit of annotated tags over lightweight tags?

Tags are currently set when preparing a new release. This is automated by GitHub as part of the release workflow and I don't see how I could GitHub tell to use another kind of tag...

[stweil]

Annotated tags are handled similar to commits, for example using the command line:

# Create an unsigned annotated tag.
git tag -a -m "New release v6.0.1" v6.0.1
git push origin v6.0.1

# Create a signed annotated tag.
git tag -s -m "New release v6.0.2" v6.0.2
git push origin v6.0.2

Those steps are done before the release is published on GitHub, so the GitHub release process won't create an additional tag.

Like a commit an annotated tag has an author, a timestamp, a message and optionally a digital signature. I suggest to use signed annotated tags, but even unsigned annotated tags are an improvement compared with lightweight tags.

As I wrote in my report above, git recommends using annotated tags for releases.
The command git describe looks for annotated tags by default.

This is the answer to your question from a chatbot:

• Annotated tags allow you to add a message to the tag, which provides more information about why the tag was created and what changes were made in the codebase. This can be useful for documenting changes and providing context for other developers.
• Annotated tags also allow you to sign your commits, which can help ensure that your code has not been tampered with and is authentic.
• Annotated tags provide a more comprehensive commit history, making it easier to understand how different versions of our code are related and how they have changed over time.
• Lightweight tags do not have these additional features, so if you need more advanced version control functionality, annotated tags may be a better choice.

[stweil]

Current status:

git describe returns a very old release (the latest one which had an annotated tag):

user@host:/var/www/typo3_11/public/typo3conf/ext/dlf# git describe
v1.3.0-3852-gb25e4f23

It's necessary to add --tags to get the latest release in the main branch:

user@host:/var/www/typo3_11/public/typo3conf/ext/dlf# git describe --tags
v5.0.0-169-gb25e4f23