I have thought of and plugged additional holes in the process (same with
txzchk but that's beyond the scope of the document) so the FAQ was
updated for this.
Also because it is a long list of steps there is now a TL;DR part above
it.
There was an order issue in the list as well.
The FAQ stated (due to a mistake in the issue in the mkiocccentry repo)
that the submission directory (under workdir) has the timestamp in it
but that is not true. Instead the tarball filename has the timestamp.
Typo fix in guidelines.
The list now details every step taken and the question was also changed
to help make it easier to find (one need not read this but if they want
to it is now in the correct order).
It is highly recommended that you run the tool from either the repo
directory itself (making sure you have the most up to date version of
course) or make sure you have installed it (also making sure you have
the most recent version). Not doing this will cause issues with checks
and in the case of out of date versions the submission would be rejected
due to violating rule 17. One can specify the options to mkiocccentry
for the tools required but if you forget or don't have the most up to
date version you will very likely run into problems.
Rule 17 mandates specific file permissions for files/directories in
submission tarballs but the documentation did not state this. More work
might need to be done here but it should be better now.
Since only try.sh and try.alt.sh files may be executable in submission
tarballs, the Makefile.example now notes this and shows how one can
adjust this if they need to. This is also in the guidelines, rules and
FAQ but those cannot be committed yet.
The FAQ and guidelines need to be improved in this regard but the quick
start guide is now consistent with the syntax found in mkiocccentry
(which is noted in the FAQ).
The next/remarks.example.md filename is kind of a misnomer but it was
named this way to match Makefile.example. It has brief instructions
along with a link to the FAQ about what one should put in their
remarks.md file (and the FAQ links to the new file as a starting point
as it has instructions).
The markdown guidelines were updated to note that if one does use
sections in remarks.md file they should start out at heading level 3
(###) and for each subsection increment it by one (up to level 6).
The new syntax (though not all functionality is yet finished) of
mkiocccentry does not match what was in the FAQ, guidelines and rules.
Also added an important reminder to use v7 format with tarballs as not
doing so can reveal who you are which would break the rules. This is
mentioned in the rules and guidelines, showing how to create such a
tarball.
More work does have to be done with these two things however.
The IOCCC now has a [Discord server](https://discord.gg/2hVYnv83DD)!
Click the link to join the [IOCCC Discord server](https://discord.gg/2hVYnv83DD).
Fans of the IOCCC, hopeful **IOCCC28** contestants, and past winners of the IOCCC
are all encouraged to stop by and say hello.
Based on user input and suggestions, we have been working on some new
functionality for the [mkiocccentry tool set](faq.html#mkiocccentry).
In order to complete and fully test this new functionality, we need
additional time. Therefore the **IOCCC28 open** date as been **moved
forward for 19 days**. Moreover, and also by request, the contest will
remain **open for an additional month**.
The [40th anniversary of the IOCCC](faq.html#ioccc_start), which started
on **2024-12-29 23:58:13.213455 UTC**, is now scheduled to be **open**
from **2025-02-19 23:19:17.130705 UTC** to **2025-05-19 23:29:31.374143
UTC**. We will update the [IOCCC rules](next/rules.html) and
[IOCCC guidelines](next/guidelines.html) accordingly, before the contest opens.
Cody Boone Ferguson