fsf changes, meant to be rebased on upstream

[squirrelmail.git] / doc / release_notes_archive / 1.3 / Notes-1.3.0.txt

/*****************************************************************
 * Release Notes: SquirrelMail 1.3.0                             *
 * The "Pasta" Release                                           *
 * 17 august 2002                                                *
 *****************************************************************/

In this edition of SquirrelMail Release Notes:
   * All about this Release!!!
   * Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.3 bug
   * Important Note about PHP 4.2.2
   * About our Release Aliases

All about this Release!!!
=========================

This is the first release on our way to a new stable series.
On our way to, that is, this is a development release, which is not
intended for production servers. We feel that releasing development
versions will help us making the to-be stable release more stable, and
restricting the ability to test no longer to people who use CVS.

So download it! Install it, and try to break it! We are hungry for any
bug report you send. If stumbling over a bug is a true non-option,
this release is not for you. In that case, download the stable version
and enjoy that one.

In general, we are planning to regularly release a 1.3.x version until
it is stable enough to call her 1.4 or 2.0. While I'm at it, one
comment on version numbers. Our version numbers take the form of A.B.C
 A increases with time, but only very seldomly.
 B if it is even (0, 2, 4 etc), it is a stable release
   if it is odd (1, 3, 5 etc), it is a development release
 C indicates small changes.
Which is to say our version numbering system is the same as that of
the linux kernel. So 1.2.7 is a stable version, and 1.3.0 (this one)
is a development release.

We are excited to bring you the first fruits of a very good
development series. Major rewrites of the back-end and the user
interface have been happening since the 1.2 series. These rewrites
have inspired me for the release alias (see down this document).


A note on plugins
=================

There have been very severe architecture improvements. Lots of plugins
have not yet been adapted to this. Plugins which are distributed with
this release (eg. in the same .tar.gz file) may work. Plugins not
distributed with this plugin most probably WILL NOT WORK.

So if you have ANY problem at all, first try turning off all plugins.


A note on PHP 4.2.2
===================

There are certain issues with PHP 4.2.2 and session handling that have
not yet been addresses in this release. So this release MAY NOT WORK
when you use PHP 4.2.2. These issues will be addressed to in
forthcoming 1.3.x releases.


A note on your configuration
============================

For a whole bunch of reasons, it is MANDATORY that you run conf.pl
(and then save your configuration) from the config/ directory before
using this release.

If you have problems with UID support, please do these 2 things:

1) For our comfort and the prosper of SquirrelMail:
   send a bugreport with this information
     * IMAP server type + version
     * Whether you use server-side sorting
     * Whether you use thread sorting
     * The value of "sort" (as in conf.pl)
   bugs can be submitted at: http://www.squirrelmail.org/bugs
2) For your own pleasure and comfort:
   turn of UID support in conf.pl, so you can continue to use 1.3.0


A note on MIME
==============

In case you stumble over a message of which something goes wrong with
MIME (it does not display some of its parts all right, etc. etc.),
please forward the message AS AN ATTACHMENT to
squirrelmail-devel@lists.sourceforge.net. However, AVOID
forwarding emails over 20k of size. Please not as well that messages
which are NOT forwarded AS AN ATTACHMENT are COMPLETEY USELESS for our
testing purposes.


Reporting my favorite SquirrelMail 1.3 bug
==========================================

It is not unlikely you will experience some bugs while using this
development version. Please submit these bugs. Also, please mention
that the bug is in this 1.3.0 release.

   http://www.squirrelmail.org/bugs

Thank you for your cooperation in that issue. That helps us to make
sure that nothing slips through the cracks. Also, it would help if
people would check existing tracker items for a bug before reporting
it again. This would help to eliminate duplicate reports, and
increase the time we can spend CODING by DECREASING the time we
spend sorting through bug reports. And remember, check not only OPEN
bug reports, but also closed ones as a bug that you report MAY have
been fixed in CVS already.

In case you want to join us on coding SquirrelMail, or have other
things to share with the developers, join the development mailinglist:

   squirrelmail-devel@lists.sourceforge.net


About our Release Aliases - By Wouter Teepe
=========================

Pasta is, as we all know, a group of Italian dishes. As most of us
know, several types of pasta exist, two of which are:

* Spaghetti: Tastes good, but is very hard to untangle. Its structure
  is unneccecarily complex, but it is relatively easy to cook.
* Lasagne: Tastes excellent, and its structure is very elegant: it is
  layered. Cooking it takes quite a bit more patience and design.

I will not bore you with Italian cooking more except for this: The
difference between spaghetti and lasagne applies to SquirrelMail as
well. Where 1.2 is good, its inside is unneccecarily complex. Opposed
to this, 1.3 is quite well structured from the inside. Its potential
is true excellence. Its flavor is already excellent. Expect 1.4/2.0 to
be, well...

With the slicing up the internals of SquirrelMail, whole new
possibilities will emerge. Listen on the development mailinglist to
hear which!


                  Happy SquirrelMailing!
                    - The SquirrelMail Project Team