Release notes: what's your standard like?

[Jenn Wilson <jenn -at- mylar -dot- outflux -dot- net>]

Hi, everyone --

I'm curious how your respective organizations view and publish release 
notes.

Most of the software companies where I've worked have used them in a 
pretty typical format:  a list of bug fixes, known issues, workarounds, 
and (depending on the standard at hand) installation instructions.  Once 
in a while, the document would include a quick overview of major changes, 
but for the most part, granular instruction was left to the standard 
documentation set.  A set of release notes was included with any release.

In my current company, before my time, the Powers That Be decided to 
reinterpret the form.  In brief, our release notes are quick-shot 
descriptions of changes made to the software, whether they're minor tweaks 
or massive new features.  Each release note is directly associated with 
the trouble ticket or change request that tracked the development. 
People access them within our support website, using a date-driven search.

The primary goal for these is business development.  Clients who are 
considering a software upgrade can review the release notes to get a feel 
for what's new, and whether it would benefit them enough to justify the 
cost.  As you might guess, then, our release notes only point out 
positive, progressive change.  Bug fixes aren't included in this standard. 
(We have a rather strange business model to begin with, and the model 
drives this decision, in part, but that's a different discussion.)

I have many frustrations with this setup, and would love to overhaul it... 
however, I won't waste list bandwidth to vent my complaints.  ;)

As I've stated above, I am curious whether others here have encountered 
non-traditional uses for release notes, and how it all works out. 
Anyone?


Jenn


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