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Rikki Nyman writes:
> A couple of us have been scratching our heads about the meaning of release
notes
> vs. updates. I have seen errata included with a document at the time of
> shipment which includes changes that occurred after the piece went to press.
> Are there working definitions of updates/release notes? Are they the same
> thing?
> I've never done release notes myself and I am curious? Thanks!
Here's my definition (FWIW). An errata identifies and corrects errors
in the documentation. Release notes identify and discuss product
information that became available after the manual went to print and,
therefore, is missing from the book.
That's my definition. now here's what we do. We have yet to issue an
errata. The primary reason for that is because we have the 'pleasure' of
releasing new versions about every 6-9 months. Hopefully, that will
stabalize, but that's the current situation. Any minor changes to
our books are addressed in the next release. We do produce release
notes for every release of our products. The notes are primarily
focused at the software. They include a list of known defects, a list
of defects fixed with this release, a last minute calculation of the
disk space required, _AND_ any doc problems we know of. Mercifully,
we have had very few doc problems that had to be addressed in the
release notes.
Sally Derrick
Tivoli Systems Inc.
sally -at- tivoli -dot- com
