Re: Release Note Changes

Release note introduction attached and applied.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

bruce wrote:
> Based on this discussion I think it is clear the release notes chapter
> needs an introductory section.  This would not be for any specific
> release but the release notes in general.  I have come up with the
> following text:
>
>     The release notes contain the significant changes for each PostgreSQL
>     release, with major features or migration issues often listed at the
>     top.  The release notes do not contain changes that affect only a few
>     users or changes that are internal and therefore not user-visible.  For
>     example, the optimizer is improved in almost every release, but the
>     improvements are usually observed by users as simply faster queries.
>
>     A complete list of all changes for a release can only be obtained
>     by viewing the CVS logs for each release.  The committers email
>     list (http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-committers/) contains
>     all source code changes as well.  There is also a web interface
>     that shows changes to specific files or directories
>     (http://developer.postgresql.org/cvsweb.cgi/pgsql/).  (XXX SVN is
>     good but needs "Next" button at bottom, no branch filter, https
>     certificate update
>
https://projects.commandprompt.com/public/pgsql/log/?action=stop_on_copy&rev=&stop_rev=&mode=stop_on_copy&verbose=on).
>
>     A names appearing next to an item represents the major developer for
>     that item.  Of course all changes involve community discussion and patch
>     review so each item is truely a community activity.  First-name-only
>     entries represent established developers, while full names represent
>     newer contributors.
>
> I need help with the CVS section.  Do we publish full CVS logs for a
> release?  I like the SVN display because it groups commits but can
> improvements I listed above be made?
>
> --
>   Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
>   EnterpriseDB                             http://postgres.enterprisedb.com
>
>   + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +

--
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        http://momjian.us
  EnterpriseDB                             http://postgres.enterprisedb.com

  + If your life is a hard drive, Christ can be your backup. +
Index: doc/src/sgml/release.sgml
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/pgsql/doc/src/sgml/release.sgml,v
retrieving revision 1.566
diff -c -c -r1.566 release.sgml
*** doc/src/sgml/release.sgml    10 Dec 2007 22:14:52 -0000    1.566
--- doc/src/sgml/release.sgml    10 Dec 2007 23:35:52 -0000
***************
*** 35,40 ****
--- 35,71 ----
  <appendix id="release">
   <title>Release Notes</title>

+  <sect1 id="release-introduction">
+   <title>Introduction</title>
+
+   <para>
+    The release notes contain the significant changes in each PostgreSQL
+    release, with major features and migration issues often listed at the
+    top.  The release notes do not contain changes that affect only a few
+    users or changes that are internal and therefore not user-visible.  For
+    example, the optimizer is improved in almost every release, but the
+    improvements are usually observed by users as simply faster queries.
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+    A complete list of changes for each release can be obtained by
+    viewing the <link linkend="cvs">CVS</> logs for each release.  The <ulink
+    url="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-committers/">committers email
+    list</ulink> contains all source code changes as well.   There is also
+    a <ulink url="http://developer.postgresql.org/cvsweb.cgi/pgsql/">web
+    interface</ulink> that shows changes to specific files.
+    <!-- we need a file containing the CVS logs for each release, and something
+    like the SVN web interface that groups commits but has branches -->
+   </para>
+
+   <para>
+    The name appearing next to each item represents the major developer for
+    that item.  Of course all changes involve community discussion and patch
+    review so each item is truly a community effort.
+   </para>
+
+  </sect1>
+
   <sect1 id="release-8-3">
    <title>Release 8.3</title>