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?

I have again updated the FAQ to mention the major/minor release
numbering:

<H3 id="item3.6">3.6) What is the upgrade process for PostgreSQL?</H3>

<P>PostgreSQL major releases include new features and occur roughly
once every year. A major release is numbered by increasing either
the first or second part of the version number, e.g. 8.1 to 8.2.

<P>Major releases usually change the internal format of system tables
and data files. These changes are often complex, so we don't maintain
backward compatibility for data files. A dump/reload of the database
is required for major upgrades.</P>

<P>Minor releases are numbered by increasing the third part of the
version number, e.g. 8.1.5 to 8.1.6. The PostgreSQL team only adds
bug fixes to minor releases. All users should upgrade to the most
recent minor release as soon as possible. While upgrades always have
some risk, PostgreSQL minor releases fix only frequently-encountered,
security, and data corruption bugs to reduce the risk of upgrading.
The community considers <i>not</i> upgrading riskier than
upgrading.</P>
`
<P>Upgrading to a minor release does not does not require a dump and
restore; merely stop the database server, install the updated binaries,
and restart the server.</P>

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Bruno Wolff III wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 10:07:22 -0500,
> Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
> >
> > <P>All users should upgrade to the most recent minor release as soon
> > as it is available. While upgrades always have some risk, PostgreSQL
> > minor releases fix only common bugs to reduce the risk of upgrading.
> > The community considers <i>not</i> upgrading more risky that
> > upgrading.</P>
> >
> > What should change about this text?
>
> The "soon as available" seems to be too aggressive to me. This seems to
> suggest (to me at least) that these upgrades are so important that you
> might want to skimp on QA to get them in place rapidly. While that may
> sometimes be true, I don't think it is always the case for everybody.

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://www.enterprisedb.com

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