Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 16:39:20 +0100 From: "Jose M. Alcaide" <jose@we.lc.ehu.es> To: John Baldwin <jhb@FreeBSD.ORG> Cc: gouders@et.bocholt.fh-gelsenkirchen.de, freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Difference between RELEASE and VERSION Message-ID: <38A821A8.86D27BC@we.lc.ehu.es> References: <200002141328.IAA19670@server.baldwin.cx>
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John Baldwin wrote:
>
> On 14-Feb-00 gouders@et.bocholt.fh-gelsenkirchen.de wrote:
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'd like to ask a native English speaker for an explanation of the
> > difference between the terms "release" and "version".
> >
> > The reason for my question is that I am working on a translation and I
> > am not sure if I should translate these terms into German (which would
> > probably result in the same German word) or if I should keep the
> > English words in order not to drop subtle nuances.
>
> Release, version, and revision all mean pretty much the same thing.
> Each indicates a particular point in the development of a file or
> program. Version can be used for both individual files and overall
> programs, thus when you talk about the version of something, it's
> meaning can end up being ambiguous. To try to get around this, we
> just don't use version at all, but use two words for the two possible
> meanings it has. Release refers to the version of an overall product,
> so that you have FreeBSD 3.4-RELEASE. Revision is reserved for the
> version of individual files. Thus, you can checkout revision 1.52 of
> src/etc/login.conf, for example. Hope this helps.
>
We [the people working in the Spanish documentation project] have
the same problem. Moreover, "release" is very difficult to translate
into Spanish. I prefer to translate "version" as "versión" :-), and
"release" as the equivalent to "edition" ("edición"). Another possibility
is the equivalent to "distribution" ("distribución"). Anyway, I think
that something like "FreeBSD edition 3.4" sounds fine even in English :-)
-- JMA
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José Mª Alcaide | mailto:jose@we.lc.ehu.es
Universidad del País Vasco | mailto:jmas@FreeBSD.org
Dpto. de Electricidad y Electrónica | http://www.we.lc.ehu.es/~jose
Facultad de Ciencias - Campus de Lejona | Tel.: +34-946012479
48940 Lejona (Vizcaya) - SPAIN | Fax: +34-946013071
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