diff: w3: document new release scheme.

[Tyson Dowd]

Hi,

Pete, want to proofread this?

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Estimated hours taken: 0.5

download/include/rotd.inc:
news/newsdb.inc:
	Document the new release scheme.


Index: download/include/rotd.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/mercury1/repository/w3/download/include/rotd.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.1.1.1
diff -u -r1.1.1.1 rotd.inc
--- rotd.inc	1998/09/01 02:41:57	1.1.1.1
+++ rotd.inc	1998/09/18 07:00:05
@@ -1,12 +1,30 @@
 <H2>Release of the Day</H2>
 
-When the latest development version of the compiler passes all of its
-regression tests a 
-<A HREF="ftp://turiel.cs.mu.OZ.AU/pub/mercury/beta-releases/">snapshot</A>
-is made available.  The snapshot will contain all the experimental
-features announced in the news section.
-
+Mercury can have up to three different releases at any given point.
+<p>
+The most stable release will is a <em>numbered</em> release, such as 0.6 or
+0.7.3.   These releases have been extensively tested, and often have 
+pre-compiled binary packages for easy installation.
+<p>
+To cater for those who need access to the latest cutting edge features
+of Mercury, but would still like some stability, we release a daily
+snapshot of the development system.  This is called a "release of the
+day (ROTD)" and is given a version number "rotd-YYYY-MM-DD" according to
+the date it was built.  When the compiler passes all its tests, a ROTD
+is put into the beta-releases directory of the 
+<A HREF="ftp://turiel.cs.mu.OZ.AU/pub/mercury/beta-releases/">
+Mercury ftp site</A>.
+<p>
+For some people, the cutting edge is not enough, and they want the
+bleeding edge.  To help these developers, we have an <em>unstable</em>
+release of the day.  This is just like a ROTD, but may not have passed
+all its tests.  It is marked with a version number
+"rotd-YYYY-MM-DD-unstable", and is also available on the
+<A HREF="ftp://turiel.cs.mu.OZ.AU/pub/mercury/beta-releases/">
+Mercury ftp site</A>.
 <p>
+Please treat ROTDs with caution -- although they are often very
+useful and reasonably stable, they are not widely tested, and
+may have unfinished features and rough edges.  We are still interested
+in feedback and bug reports on the ROTDs.
 
-Note that this version of the compiler is not as
-stable as a full release, so use with caution.
Index: news/newsdb.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/mercury1/repository/w3/news/newsdb.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.4
diff -u -r1.4 newsdb.inc
--- newsdb.inc	1998/09/14 02:23:03	1.4
+++ newsdb.inc	1998/09/18 07:05:57
@@ -16,6 +16,16 @@
 
 $newsdb = array(
 
+"18 Sep 1998" => array("New unstable daily releases.",
+
+"The Mercury daily snapshot, called the release-of-the-day (ROTD) scheme
+has been modified to add unstable releases, which have not passed the
+all the tests, but may still be useful for developers who need the very
+latest version.  Daily releases are available for
+<A HREF=\"download/rotd.html\">download</A>."
+),
+
+
 "7 Sep 1998" => array("The Mercury Web Site overhauled.",
 
 "The new layout is easier for us to update with news (like this),


-- 
       Tyson Dowd           # There isn't any reason why Linux can't be
                            # implemented as an enterprise computing solution.
     trd at cs.mu.oz.au        # Find out what you've been missing while you've
http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~trd # been rebooting Windows NT. -- InfoWorld, 1998.