Added a version of tridge's comments on numbering to the faq.

Dan
(This used to be commit 53a4b8769e25c65fa6ab0f532e30630adf6f2056)

diff --git a/docs/samba.faq b/docs/samba.faq
index ae8abddedb415039a26bbf9c281eb297c8baac84..ac3d6bc21d416121f49ccc7b557cb974b709def4 100644 (file)
--- a/docs/samba.faq
+++ b/docs/samba.faq
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ Contents
 
      * SECTION ONE: General information
           All about Samba - what it is, how to get it, related sources of
-          information.
+          information, how to understand the version numbering scheme.
      * SECTION TWO: Compiling and installing Samba on a Unix host
           Common problems that arise when building and installing Samba under
           Unix.
@@ -117,6 +117,51 @@ ONLY in source form, though binaries may be available from other sites. Recent
 versions of some Linux distributions, for example, do contain Samba binaries
 for that platform.
 
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+* 5: What do the version numbers mean?
+
+It is not recommended that you run a version of Samba with the word "alpha"
+in its name unless you know what you are doing and are willing to do some 
+debugging. Many, many people just get the latest recommended stable release 
+version and are happy. If you are brave, by all means take the plunge and 
+help with the testing and development - but don't install it on your 
+departmental server. Samba is typically very stable and safe, and this is
+mostly due to the policy of many public releases.
+
+1) when major changes are made the version number is increased. For example,
+the transition from 1.9.15 to 1.9.16. However, this version number will not
+appear immediately and people should continue to use 1.9.15 for production
+systems (see next point.)
+
+2) just after major changes are made the software is considered
+unstable, and a series of alpha releases are distributed, for example
+1.9.16alpha1. These are for testing by those who know what they are doing.
+The "alpha" in the filename will hopefully scare off those who are just
+looking for the latest version to install.
+
+3) when Andrew thinks that the alphas have stabilised to the point where he
+would recommend new users install it, he renames it to the same version
+number without the alpha, for example 1.9.16. 
+
+4) inevitably bugs are found in the "stable" releases and minor 
+patch levels are released which give us the pXX series, for example 
+1.9.16p2. 
+
+So the progression goes:
+
+                       1.9.15p7        
+                       1.9.15p8
+                       1.9.16alpha1
+                         :
+                       1.9.16alpha20
+                       1.9.16
+                       1.9.16p1
+
+The above system means that whenever someone looks on our ftp site
+they will be able to grab the highest numbered release without an
+alpha in the name and be sure of getting the current recommended
+version.
+
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 * 4: What platforms are supported?