docs: document release process

RELEASE.md

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+
+# Release Process for Rust Components
+
+A streamlined release process that relies on CI for validation and focuses on essential manual steps.
+
+## What CI Handles Automatically
+
+CI validates every commit and ensures:
+
+- All tests pass on multiple platforms (Linux, macOS, Windows)
+- Code passes linting (`cargo x lint`)
+- Documentation builds successfully
+- Examples run correctly
+- MSRV (Minimum Supported Rust Version) compatibility
+
+## Prerequisites (One-Time Setup)
+
+1. **crates.io access**: `cargo login` and save your API token
+2. **GPG setup**: Ensure `gpg-agent` is running and your key is configured
+3. **SVN access**: Checkout Apache dist directories:
+   ```bash
+   mkdir -p ~/apache/dist/{dev,release}/datasketches
+   cd ~/apache/dist/dev/datasketches
+   svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/datasketches/ .
+   cd ~/apache/dist/release/datasketches
+   svn co https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/release/datasketches/ .
+   ```
+
+## Step 1: Create Release Candidate Tag
+
+```bash
+# Simply tag the current commit as RC
+git checkout main
+git tag -a 0.3.0-RC1 -m "Release candidate 1 for 0.3.0"
+git push origin 0.3.0-RC1
+```
+
+## Step 2: Publish Release Candidate to crates.io
+
+This allows the community to test the actual published crate.
+
+```bash
+# Temporarily change version for RC publish (DON'T commit!)
+sed -i '' 's/version = ".*"/version = "0.3.0-rc.1"/' datasketches/Cargo.toml
+
+# Verify package contents
+cargo package --list -p datasketches
+
+# Dry run
+cargo publish --dry-run -p datasketches
+
+# Publish
+cargo publish -p datasketches
+
+# Revert the temporary change
+git checkout -- datasketches/Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
+```
+
+Verify: Visit https://crates.io/crates/datasketches and confirm `0.3.0-rc.1` is published.
+
+## Step 3: Create Signed Source Distribution
+
+```bash
+# Navigate to dist scripts (adjust path as needed)
+cd ~/apache/dist/dev/datasketches/scripts
+
+# Run the packaging script (requires GPG)
+./bashDeployToDist.sh \
+  /path/to/datasketches-rust \
+  datasketches-rust \
+  0.3.0-RC1
+```
+
+This script will:
+
+1. Create a source archive from the git tag
+2. Generate GPG signature (`.asc`)
+3. Generate SHA512 checksum (`.sha512`)
+4. Upload to https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/datasketches/rust/0.3.0-RC1/
+
+Verify the files are accessible at the URL above.
+
+## Step 4: Send [VOTE] Email
+
+Send to: dev@datasketches.apache.org
+
+**Subject:** `[VOTE] Release Apache DataSketches Rust 0.3.0 (RC1)`
+
+**Email template:**
+
+```
+Hi everyone,
+
+I propose releasing Apache DataSketches Rust version 0.3.0.
+
+Source distribution:
+https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/datasketches/rust/0.3.0-RC1/
+
+GitHub tag:
+https://github.com/apache/datasketches-rust/releases/tag/0.3.0-RC1
+
+Testing (choose one or both):
+- crates.io RC: cargo add datasketches@0.3.0-rc.1
+- From source: Download, verify signatures, cargo x test
+
+To verify signatures:
+  curl -O https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/datasketches/rust/0.3.0-RC1/datasketches-rust-0.3.0-RC1-src
+  curl -O https://dist.apache.org/repos/dist/dev/datasketches/rust/0.3.0-RC1/datasketches-rust-0.3.0-RC1-src.asc
+  gpg --verify datasketches-rust-0.3.0-RC1-src.asc
+
+Notable changes: [link to CHANGELOG or summary]
+
+Vote will remain open for at least 72 hours.
+
+[ ] +1 approve
+[ ] +0 no opinion
+[ ] -1 disapprove (and reason why)
+```
+
+**Wait 72+ hours.** Need at least 3 +1 PMC votes and more +1s than -1s.
+
+**If vote fails:**
+
+```bash
+# Fix the issues, commit to main, then tag the new RC
+git tag -a 0.3.0-RC2 -m "Release candidate 2 for 0.3.0"
+git push origin 0.3.0-RC2
+# Then repeat from Step 2 (with version 0.3.0-RC2)
+```
+
+## Step 5: Close Vote & Publish Release
+
+After successful vote, send [VOTE-RESULT] email summarizing the outcome and proceed to publish the release:
+
+```bash
+# Move artifacts from dev to release
+cd ~/apache/dist/dev/datasketches/scripts
+./moveDevToRelease.sh rust 0.3.0-RC1 0.3.0
+
+# Update Cargo.toml to final release version (this is the only version commit!)
+cd /path/to/datasketches-rust
+git checkout main
+sed -i '' 's/version = ".*"/version = "0.3.0"/' datasketches/Cargo.toml
+git add datasketches/Cargo.toml
+git commit -m "chore: release 0.3.0"
+git push origin main
+
+# Create final release tag
+git tag -a 0.3.0 -m "Release version 0.3.0"
+git push origin 0.3.0
+
+# Publish final version to crates.io
+cargo publish --dry-run -p datasketches
+cargo publish -p datasketches
+```
+
+## Step 6: Create GitHub Release
+
+Go to https://github.com/apache/datasketches-rust/releases and draft a new release.
+
+## Step 7: Post-Release Housekeeping
+
+1. **Update website**:
+   ```bash
+   cd ~/apache/dist/dev/datasketches/scripts
+   ./createDownloadsInclude.sh /path/to/datasketches-website
+   ```
+
+2. **Clean up old releases** from dist (keep only latest):
+   ```bash
+   cd ~/apache/dist/release/datasketches
+   svn rm rust/0.2.0
+   svn commit -m "Archive old release 0.2.0"
+   ```
+
+3. **Send [ANNOUNCE] email** after 24 hours (allows mirror propagation):
+    - To: dev@datasketches.apache.org, announce@apache.org
+    - Include links to: GitHub release, crates.io, docs.rs, Apache dist
+
+---
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+**Need to yank a crate?**
+
+```bash
+cargo yank --vers 0.3.0-RC1 datasketches
+```
+
+Only for broken pre-releases. For released versions, publish a patch instead.
+
+**GPG issues?**
+
+- Ensure key is in KEYS file and uploaded to public keyservers
+- Check `gpg-agent` is running: `ps aux | grep gpg-agent`
+- Try: `eval $(gpg-agent --daemon)`
+
+**crates.io publish fails?**
+
+- Verify `cargo login` is current
+- Check package size: `cargo package --list -p datasketches`
+- Ensure all dependencies are published