Release v24.0 | Upgrade to net9.0 TFM | .NET 9 release | +semver: breaking (#2286)

* Update README and build script
* Release Notes for Read the Docs web portal
* Release notes for GitHub Releases
* Update Administration doc with notes
* Bump samples packs to the latest versions
* Bump all packs to the latest versions
* Fix the PDF layout due to invalid code in index.rst
* Add sphinx_copybutton extension to copy code blocks in docs
* Rewrite Building doc according to the new CI/CD env
* Update Development Process
* Goodbye, CircleCI... aka, update Release process

Author: raman-m

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 name: Release
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [ "release/24.0" ] # main
+    branches:
+      - main
+      #- 'release/24.0'
 env:
   WORKFLOW_VAR: Release # ${{ vars.WORKFLOW_VAR }}
 jobs:

.readthedocs.yaml

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ version: 2
 build:
   os: ubuntu-22.04
   tools:
-    python: "3.11"
+    python: "3.12"
     # You can also specify other tool versions:
     # nodejs: "19"
     # rust: "1.64"

LICENSE.md

@@ -1,8 +1,19 @@
 The MIT License (MIT)
 Copyright © 2016-2025 Tom Gardham-Pallister, Raman Maksimchuk and contributors.
 
-Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),  to  deal in
+the Software without restriction,  including without limitation  the rights  to
+use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and / or sell copies
+of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished  to do
+so, subject to the following conditions:
 
-The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included  in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 
-THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMP-
+LIED,  INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,  FITNESS
+FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR
+COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,  DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
+IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNEC-
+TION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

README.md

@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 ![Ocelot Logo](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/ocelot_logo.png)
 
-[![develop Status](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/develop.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/develop.yml)
-[![ReadTheDocs Status](https://readthedocs.org/projects/ocelot/badge/?version=develop&style=flat-default)](https://app.readthedocs.org/projects/ocelot/builds/?version__slug=develop)
-[![Coveralls Status](https://coveralls.io/repos/github/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/badge.svg?branch=develop)](https://coveralls.io/github/ThreeMammals/Ocelot?branch=develop)
-[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/develop/LICENSE.md)
-[![NuGet Version](https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/Ocelot.svg)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot/)
-[![NuGet Downloads](https://img.shields.io/nuget/dt/Ocelot.svg)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot/)
+[![Release Status](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/release.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/release.yml)
+[![Development Status](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/develop.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/actions/workflows/develop.yml)
+[![ReadTheDocs Status](https://readthedocs.org/projects/ocelot/badge/?version=latest&style=flat-square)](https://app.readthedocs.org/projects/ocelot/builds/?version__slug=latest)
+[![Coveralls Status](https://coveralls.io/repos/github/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/badge.svg?branch=main)](https://coveralls.io/github/ThreeMammals/Ocelot?branch=main)
+[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/main/LICENSE.md)
+[![NuGet](https://img.shields.io/nuget/v/Ocelot?logo=nuget&label=NuGet&color=blue)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot/ "Download Ocelot from NuGet.org")
+[![Downloads](https://img.shields.io/nuget/dt/Ocelot?logo=nuget&label=Downloads)](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot/ "Total Ocelot downloads from NuGet.org")
 
 ## About
 Ocelot is a .NET [API gateway](https://www.bing.com/search?q=API+gateway).
@@ -74,19 +75,19 @@ You can see what we are working on in the [backlog](https://github.com/ThreeMamm
 
 ## Contributing
 We love to receive contributions from the community, so please keep them coming.
-Pull requests, issues, and commentary welcome! <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20">
+Pull requests, issues, and commentary welcome! <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20" />
 
 Please complete the relevant [template](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/tree/main/.github) for [issues](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/main/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE.md) and [pull requests](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/main/.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md).
 Sometimes it's worth getting in touch with us to [discuss](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/discussions) changes before doing any work in case this is something we are already doing or it might not make sense.
-We can also give advice on the easiest way to do things <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20">
+We can also give advice on the easiest way to do things <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20" />
 
 Finally, we mark all existing issues as [![label: help wanted][~helpwanted]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/help%20wanted)
 [![label: small effort][~smalleffort]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/small%20effort)
 [![label: medium effort][~mediumeffort]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/medium%20effort)
 [![label: large effort][~largeeffort]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/large%20effort). [^6]
 If you want to contribute for the first time, we suggest looking at a [![label: help wanted][~helpwanted]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/help%20wanted) 
 [![label: small effort][~smalleffort]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/small%20effort) 
-[![label: good first issue][~goodfirstissue]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/good%20first%20issue) <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20">
+[![label: good first issue][~goodfirstissue]](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/labels/good%20first%20issue) <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/refs/heads/assets/images/octocat.png" alt="octocat" height="20" />
 
 [~helpwanted]: https://img.shields.io/badge/-help%20wanted-128A0C.svg
 [~smalleffort]: https://img.shields.io/badge/-small%20effort-fef2c0.svg
@@ -96,8 +97,8 @@ If you want to contribute for the first time, we suggest looking at a [![label:
 
 ### Notes
 [^1]: Ocelot does not directly support [GraphQL](https://graphql.org/). Developers can easily integrate the [GraphQL for .NET](https://github.com/graphql-dotnet/graphql-dotnet) library. 
-[^2]: Ocelot supports [Consul](https://www.consul.io/), [Netflix Eureka](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Steeltoe.Discovery.Eureka), [Service Fabric](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/service-fabric/) service discovery providers, as well as special modes like [Dynamic Routing](/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/main/docs/features/servicediscovery.rst#dynamic-routing) and [Custom Providers](/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/blob/main/docs/features/servicediscovery.rst#custom-providers).
-[^3]: Retry policies only via [Polly](/App-vNext/Polly) library.
-[^4]: Starting with version [21.0](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/releases/tag/21.0.0), the solution's code base supports [Multitargeting](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild-multitargeting-overview) as SDK-style projects. It should be easier for teams to migrate to the currently supported [.NET 8 and 9](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy/dotnet-core#lifecycle) frameworks. Also, new features will be available for all .NET SDKs that we support via multitargeting. Find out more here: [Target frameworks in SDK-style projects](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/frameworks)
+[^2]: Ocelot supports the following service discovery providers: (**1**) [Consul](https://www.consul.io) through the [Ocelot.Provider.Consul](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot.Provider.Consul) extension package, (**2**) [Kubernetes](https://kubernetes.io) via the [Ocelot.Provider.Kubernetes](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot.Provider.Kubernetes) extension package, and (**3**) [Netflix Eureka](https://spring.io/projects/spring-cloud-netflix), which utilizes the [Steeltoe.Discovery.Eureka](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Steeltoe.Discovery.Eureka) package referenced within the [Ocelot.Provider.Eureka](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot.Provider.Eureka) extension package. Additionally, Ocelot supports (**4**) Azure [Service Fabric](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/service-fabric/) for service discovery, along with special modes such as [Dynamic Routing](https://ocelot.readthedocs.io/en/latest/features/servicediscovery.html#dynamic-routing) and [Custom Providers](https://ocelot.readthedocs.io/en/latest/features/servicediscovery.html#custom-providers).
+[^3]: Retry policies only via [Polly](https://github.com//App-vNext/Polly) library referenced within the [Ocelot.Provider.Polly](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Ocelot.Provider.Polly) extension package.
+[^4]: Starting with version [21](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/releases/tag/21.0.0) and higher, the solution's code base supports [Multitargeting](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild-multitargeting-overview) as SDK-style projects. It should be easier for teams to migrate to the currently supported [.NET 8 and 9](https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy/dotnet-core#lifecycle) frameworks. Also, new features will be available for all .NET SDKs that we support via multitargeting. Find out more here: [Target frameworks in SDK-style projects](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/frameworks)
 [^5]: [Ocelot Guru](https://gurubase.io/g/ocelot) is an unofficial tool to get answers regarding Ocelot: please consider it an advanced search tool. Thus, we have an official [Questions & Answers](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/discussions/categories/q-a) category in the [Discussions](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/discussions) space.
 [^6]: See all [labels](https://github.com/ThreeMammals/Ocelot/issues/labels) for the repository, which are useful for searching and filtering.