Allow first release

Author: csala

Makefile

@@ -149,14 +149,14 @@ publish: dist ## package and upload a release
 
 .PHONY: bumpversion-release
 bumpversion-release: ## Merge master to stable and bumpversion release
-	git checkout stable
+	git checkout stable || git checkout -b stable
 	git merge --no-ff master -m"make release-tag: Merge branch 'master' into stable"
 	bumpversion release
 	git push --tags origin stable
 
 .PHONY: test-bumpversion-release
 test-bumpversion-release: ## Merge master to stable and bumpversion release
-	git checkout stable
+	git checkout stable || git checkout -b stable
 	git merge --no-ff master -m"make release-tag: Merge branch 'master' into stable"
 	bumpversion release
 
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ bumpversion-major: ## Bump the version the next major skipping the release
 	bumpversion --no-tag major
 
 CURRENT_BRANCH := $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null)
-CHANGELOG_LINES := $(shell git diff HEAD..stable HISTORY.md 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
+CHANGELOG_LINES := $(shell git diff HEAD..origin/stable HISTORY.md 2>&1 | wc -l)
 
 .PHONY: check-release
 check-release: ## Check if the release can be made