alpha and beta are generally used to indicate *pre*-releases of
given version --- that's true of software in general, not just
NetBSD.  In this particular case, NetBSD_1.4.2_ALPHA was the
first pre-release of NetBSD 1.4.2.  NetBSD releases (as opposed
to snapshots, which generally contain more untested code) always
take the form "n.n" or "n.n.n" (where "n" is [0-9]).  I don't
believe core has ever felt it necessary to release a patch
release to a minor release, but if they did I suspect it would
take the form "n.n.n.n" rather than using letters of the alphabet
to distinguish it.

---Alex

> Hi !
> 
> Stupid question, but is  before or after NetBSD_1.4.2 ?
> If think that after the release of 1.4.2, the name continue with 1.4.2A,
> etc...
> 
> Thanks.
> 
-----------
Carl Alexander                                                    KD7GUR
------------- MIT (where Alex hangs out):
xela@mit.edu      Course VI (sometime special student)    SIPB (prospective)
                  Mitgaard ("honorary mold")    MITSFS    LSC (night worker)
                  http://web.mit.edu/~xela
------------- Work (where they call me 'Carl'):
carl@terc.edu     Sr. Systems & Network Administrator, TERC
                  http://www.terc.edu