Subject: Re: NetBSD-1.4.2_ALPHA ready for testing
To: Ken Hornstein <kenh@cmf.nrl.navy.mil>
From: Alex <xela@MIT.EDU>
List: port-hp300
Date: 12/24/1999 10:03:40
> >Please note that this prerelease is an upgrade on the "1.4" release
> >branch, i.e. it's an upgrade from the 1.4 and 1.4.1 releases.  It
> >is, however, not directly comparable to the "current" development
> >versions, which have names of the form 1.4A, ..., 1.4P etc.  It's a
> >mistake thinking that 1.4.2_ALPHA is an upgrade from e.g. 1.4P;
> >doing so can cause you lots of problems, so don't go there...
> 
> Although I'm not a fan of the current version numbering, I think
> this will help the average user.  Thanks for putting this paragraph
> in, Havard!

I don't generally think much of "me too" messages, but as someone
who found out about this bizarre approach to version numbering the
hard way (and who still doesn't understand its logic), I very much
agree.  Havard's paragraph above, or something very like it, should 
*always* accompany announcements of snapshots and releases, and
appear in their README filess.

---Alex

Carl Alexander
------------- MIT (where Alex hangs out):
xela@mit.edu      Course VI (sometime special student)    SIPB (prospective)
                  Mitgaard ("honorary mold")    MITSFS    LSC (night worker)
                  http://www.mit.edu/~xela
------------- Work (where they call me "Carl"):
carl@terc.edu     System Administrator & User Services Manager, TERC
                  http://www.terc.edu