request for your comments on release documentation

[Miroslav Lachman]

Mark Felder wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Jun 2013 12:49:21 -0500, Hiroki Sato <hrs at freebsd.org> wrote:

[...]

>> 3. Is there missing information which should be in the relnotes?
>> Probably there are some missing items for each release, but this
>> question is one at some abstraction level. Link to commit log and
>> diff, detailed description of major incompatible changes, and so
>> on.
>
> I try to keep up with the development and changes in releases as best I
> can and I haven't noticed any glaring omissions over the last several
> releases. I think you're doing a fine job.
>
> Also, is there a reason this isn't a "living" document that can be
> updated as things get MFC'd to STABLE? It would help take load off your
> end and maybe speed up release once the freeze has happened and we begin
> the final grind through release candidates.

It would be nice if all release related documents (relnotes, errata, 
hardware notes etc.) will be "living" after release (in online version) 
and not considered as set in stone. There are sometimes missing items 
which should be included online as soon as possible, but rarely are.

For example, I found two issues with OpenSSH in 8.4 release. (bugs or 
features, or just incompatibilities with older versions) None of them is 
listed anywhere and I think it is really bad, because one issue can 
cause sshd not started after upgrade.

So the online version of these docs should be "living" and updated as 
some issues and questions arises on the mailing lists and forums few 
days / weeks after release.


On the other hand, FreeBSD has good quality of docs included Release 
Notes. (thank you for your work!)
If there is some "man power", some items can be more detailed with links 
to other online resources like FreeBSD wiki, but only for some important 
items.

Miroslav Lachman