On 3/27/24 2:57 AM, qubist wrote:
> On Tue, 26 Mar 2024 14:46:12 -0700 Andrew David Wong wrote:
> 
>> ## What's new in Qubes OS 4.2.1?
>>
>> [...]
>>
>> For more information about the changes included [...]
> 
> It would be much better to have a more detailed (yet concise)
> changelog. It is highly unlikely that the user will read pages upon
> pages of issues on a bug tracker, just to find out what is new.
> 
> My $0.02. :)
> 

The concise changelog is already present, in the part you elided. Unlike major 
and minor releases, the primary purpose of patch releases is not to deliver new 
features or enhancements worth showcasing. Rather, the primary purpose is to 
provide a secure and convenient way for users to install (or reinstall) the 
latest stable Qubes release with an up-to-date ISO.

Imagine if we had a major or minor release, then we didn't have any further 
releases for a year. Users who wanted to (re)install Qubes would have to use a 
year-old ISO, then immediately catch up on a year's worth of updates, which 
could take quite a long time. Moreover, any bugs that affected the installation 
or initial update processes themselves might be complete blockers for some 
users. A security vulnerability in the update mechanism could make that initial 
update risky.

The purpose of these patch releases is mainly just to move up the "starting 
point" so that fresh installations don't have as far to "catch up" before 
they're on par with existing, regularly-updated installations. That's why the 
main summary of changes is just "all the routine updates you would've gotten if 
you had installed 4.2.0 and kept it up to date." Some of these routine updates 
will be of interest to some users while being of no interest at all to most 
other users. There should rarely be any that are of interest to *all* users. 
(Those should usually go in major or minor releases instead.)

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