Tracking issue to release 0.5.0

[tisonkun]

This is the tracking issue for releasing 0.5.0.

cc @pmcgleenon @ariesdevil @notfilippo @PsiACE

I'm going to run the release process once #250 gets handled.

[PsiACE]

go ahead

[tisonkun]

Release checklist for 0.5.0, following RELEASE.md:

Release preparation

• Resolve the originally identified blocker in fix(tdigest): interpolate quantiles toward the nearer centroid and normalize the left tail #250.
• Complete the release-facing API, correctness, documentation, test, and package audit.
• Merge release-preparation PR chore: prepare the 0.5.0 release #257.
• Set datasketches and the lockfile package version to 0.5.0.
• Freeze the accumulated changelog entries under an undated v0.5.0 section.
• Merge docs: fix the release changelog verification #258 to fix the observed RC verification command failure before creating a candidate.
• Pass the complete local release checks and all required Linux, macOS, and Windows CI checks.
• Record the final release commit: 77f5652016b3859c23b60c5b8b9e94578ef484f0.

Release candidate 1

• Confirm crates.io, GPG/KEYS, and ASF SVN prerequisites for the release manager.
• Create and push the immutable annotated tag 0.5.0-rc.1.
• Publish and verify datasketches@0.5.0-rc.1 on crates.io.
• Build apache-datasketches-rust-0.5.0-src.zip directly from the RC tag.
• Sign the archive with fingerprint 8B374472FAD328E17F479863B379691FC6E298DD and create its SHA-512 checksum.
• Verify the local archive, signature, checksum, legal files, and exact three-file artifact set.
• Stage the candidate under dist/dev/datasketches/rust/0.5.0-rc.1 in SVN revision 87102.
• Re-download the staged candidate into a fresh directory and rerun signature, checksum, package, lint, feature, test, and doctest verification.
• Send [VOTE] Release Apache DataSketches Rust 0.5.0 (RC1) to dev@datasketches.apache.org: vote thread. Voting closes on 2026-09-04 06:00 UTC.
• Receive at least three binding PMC +1 votes and more binding +1 than binding -1 votes.
• Send the [RESULT][VOTE] message with binding and non-binding totals and add its thread URL here.

Publish the approved release

• Move the exact approved artifacts from dist/dev to dist/release/datasketches/rust/0.5.0 without rebuilding them.
• Create and push the annotated final tag 0.5.0 from the approved RC commit.
• Publish and verify datasketches@0.5.0 on crates.io.
• Verify the source archive on downloads.apache.org.
• Remove 0.4.0 from dist/release after confirming the new release; the old release remains in the Apache archive.
• Regenerate and publish the website download table, then verify its artifact, signature, checksum, and KEYS links.
• Wait at least one hour after the release appears on downloads.apache.org, then announce it to dev@datasketches.apache.org and announce@apache.org and record the thread URLs here.
• Submit the post-release changelog-date PR and close this tracking issue.

Nonblocking process follow-up: #259 clarifies the public communication checkpoints and has passed CI. It does not change or invalidate RC1.

If RC1 is cancelled, remove its dist/dev candidate, fix the issue through a new PR, and restart with a new immutable 0.5.0-rc.N tag.