Re: pg_upgrade docs are confusing if PostgreSQL's versioning system/language isn't known to reader

On Fri, Jan 26, 2018 at 12:04:17PM -0500, Jim Ryan wrote:
> Hey Bruce,
>
> Thanks for working on this, but wouldn't pg_upgrade be needed from 10.1 to
> 10.2?  Aren't those considered major versions, or am I misunderstanding?

Uh, it is confusing. We switched in PG 10 from changing the _third_
number for a minor release to changing the second number. The next
major release of Postgres will be PG 11.

> The source of my (and potentially others) confusion is if from 9.1 to 9.2 is
> considered a major version change or not.  I think most users would assume from
> 9.x to 10.x is a major version change.  The ambiguity is in 9.x to 9.y.  

Does the patch make sense now?

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>
> Thanks,
> Jim
>
> On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 7:26 PM, Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> wrote:
>
> On Mon, Dec 18, 2017 at 09:30:41PM +0000, PG Doc comments form wrote:
> > The following documentation comment has been logged on the website:
> >
> > Page: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/pgupgrade.html
> > Description:
> >
> > If a reader who is unfamiliar with PostgreSQL&#39;s versioning (where 9.5
> and
> > 9.6 are considered major versions) reads the documentation, it is unclear
> if
> > they need to use pg_upgrade to migrate from 9.5 to 9.6, for example.
> >
> > The documentation says upgrading &quot;from 9.6.3 to the current major
> release&quot;
> > requires pg_upgrade, but not &quot;from 9.6.2 to 9.6.3&quot;.
> >
> > The problem with that language is that the current release of PostgreSQL
> is
> > 10.  So is pg_upgrade required to upgrade from 9.6.3 to current (10)
> because
> > 9 and 10 are major versions or because 9.6 and 10.0 are major versions?
> (the
> > latter).
> >
> > It would be clearer if the documentation covered all three cases:
> > 9.6.3 -&gt; 10.0.0 and 9.5.1 -&gt; 9.6.3: pg_upgrade should be used
> > 9.6.2 -&gt; 9.6.3: pg_upgrade not needed
> >
> > Or if the documentation simply noted that the second decimal is
> considered a
> > major release.
>
> How is this attached patch?
>
> --
>   Bruce Momjian  <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us>        http://momjian.us
>   EnterpriseDB                             http://enterprisedb.com
>
> + As you are, so once was I.  As I am, so you will be. +
> +                      Ancient Roman grave inscription +
>
>

--
Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> http://momjian.us
EnterpriseDB http://enterprisedb.com

+ As you are, so once was I. As I am, so you will be. +
+ Ancient Roman grave inscription +