patches

[Kent Boortz]

> In fact, what I personnaly prefers is a source package with the newest patch
> applied, so that I can recompile the source code without worrying about
> applying all the patches.

Ok, we discussed this and decided to change the way we release the
OpenSource Erlang/OTP:

    1. We release fully tested source base releases. This is R7B-0,
       R8A-0, i.e. those ending in "-0".

    2. We release selected source snapshots. This is snapshots that
       contains important changes and that passed the testing. These
       snapshots will be named R7B-1, R7B-2, ......

    3. We will release combined patches, i.e. one large patch that
       patch from R7B-0 to R7B-1, a second one from R7B-1 to R7B-2
       etc.  Note that the result after patching will not be *exactly*
       the same as the snapshot. Some precompiled BEAM files in the
       bootstrap part may differ.

    4. When a move from one source release to the next require changes
       in the bootstrap compiler, then there will be no patch to
       upgrade. This forces a complete source release download with
       the correct binary BEAM files.

    5. Binary releases for Linux, FreeBSD and Windows will be built
       from the complete source snapshots, i.e. not from a base source
       release with applied patches.

Is this ok?

kent