Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 15:47:16 +0100
From: Magnus Hagander <magnus@hagander.net>
To: Bruce Momjian <bruce@momjian.us>
Cc: Andrew Hammond <andrew.george.hammond@gmail.com>,
 pgsql-docs@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: should we have a separate page that clearly defines what a minor
	release is and why it's a good idea to keep up with them?
Message-ID: <20070221144716.GA21044@svr2.hagander.net>
References: <20070221085343.GB19713@svr2.hagander.net>
	<200702211430.l1LEUlO00243@momjian.us>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
In-Reply-To: <200702211430.l1LEUlO00243@momjian.us>
User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.11

On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 09:30:47AM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> Magnus Hagander wrote:
> > On Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 08:22:30PM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > > Andrew Hammond wrote:
> > > > I know it's mentioned in the FAQ, but I'd like to have a separate page
> > > > that describes what a minor release is, and why it's a good idea to
> > > > keep up with them. Basically, I want something simple and clear to
> > > > point middle-managers at when they ask me why I want to upgrade the
> > > > database.
> > > > 
> > > > I'm willing to write it, if there's a consensus that it would be worth
> > > > having.
> > > 
> > > I think adding to the FAQ is the best solution.  What additional
> > > information to we need there?
> > 
> > I think it's important enough (and unclear enough to a lot of people)
> > that it shuold have it's own non-FAQ section. Either as a page on the
> > website or as a page in the documentation.
> 
> If you look at the developer documentation, you will see I overhauled
> the instructions for upgrading a minor release:
> 
> 	http://momjian.us/main/writings/pgsql/sgml/install-upgrading.html
> 
> I think that would be a good place to add more text.  What additional
> text do we need?  Something about how you are less likely to hit a new
> bug if you minor upgrade than if you stay on an older release?

Something about how we put only critical fixes in back branches, and not
new features. How we *really* recommend that people should always be on
the latest release in a branch. How we will never (knowingly) change the
behaviour of anything in a back branch (without being *very* clear in
the release notes of what and why). More focus on how easy that part is.

Mainly, I think people don't upgrade because (a) they don't know what
they gain, and (b) they're scared something will break. We need to
counter those two arguments.

//Magnus