Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2026 14:36:57 -0400
From: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
To: Andres Freund <andres@anarazel.de>
Cc: David Geier <geidav.pg@gmail.com>,
	PostgreSQL-development <pgsql-hackers@lists.postgresql.org>
Subject: Re: First draft of PG 19 release notes
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On Sun, Apr 19, 2026 at 02:04:34PM -0400, Andres Freund wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> On 2026-04-19 13:53:08 -0400, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > The text I put in the wiki, which I have followed for years, says:
> >
> > 	https://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/Creating_Major_Release_Notes
> > 	Performance improvements are mentioned in the release notes if
> > 	they are user-visible (e.g., new syntax) or significant enough
> > 	to enable new workloads.
> >
> > I didn't think +12-17% for an index build would enable new workloads.
> > If you want to relitigate that, you are welcome to do so.  If this is
> > changed, it has to be done so consistently, not just for this item.
> 
> Just about everyone has disagreed vehemently with you about this, in every of
> the last 5 releases or so.  I don't think it's ok that you continue to ignore
> that.

That is not my recollection, and I thought I would have heard more about
it if that was the case.

> I find this policy so depressing that I stopped even opening the release
> notes, just to preserve whatever semblance of sanity I possess.  I'm know I'm
> not alone in that.

Well, I just merged the wiki text to explain that we have to consider
how much an item is of interest when adding it:

	While the major release notes include changes to the documented
	extension interface, it does not include all changes of interest
	to extension developers or Postgres forks because doing so would
	include too many items that would be uninteresting to the general
	audience.  Performance improvements are mentioned in the release
	notes if they are user-visible (e.g., new syntax) or significant
	enough to enable new workloads.

So, if you want to change this process, please feel free to get
agreement on new text that I can follow, or someone else can follow.

I have always hesitated to expand the list of items with concern that
general Postgres users will lose interest in reading it.  I have in mind
that the release notes are not for me or hackers subscribers to read.

I think we expanded the the list for optimizer changes.  Could we find a
way to do that more that would be readable?  I don't know.

-- 
  Bruce Momjian  <bruce@momjian.us>        https://momjian.us
  EDB                                      https://enterprisedb.com

  Do not let urgent matters crowd out time for investment in the future.