rewrote and improved core documentation for clarity, utility and compatibility with Markdown

git-svn-id: https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/incubator/couchdb/trunk@642660 13f79535-47bb-0310-9956-ffa450edef68

1 files changed, 27 insertions, 32 deletions

diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 32f7b813..a2f14ca4 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,75 +1,70 @@
-Apache CouchDB News
-===================
+# News #
 
-Version 0.7.3a1
---------------
+## Version 0.7.3a1 ##
+
+This version is unreleased and only available from the source repository.
 
  * Changed core licensing to the Apache License 2.0.
- * Improved handling of ICU shared libraries.
- * Apache CouchDB can automatically respawn following a server crash.
- * Apache CouchDB no longer refuses to start with a stale PID file.
+ * Miscellaneous refactoring of the core Erlang database engine.
+ * Miscellaneous improvements to Futon, the web administration console.
+ * Miscellaneous improvements to the `couchdb` command.
+ * Database server can automatically respawn following a server crash.
+ * Database server no longer refuses to start with a stale PID file.
  * System logrotate configuration provided.
- * Miscellaneous improvements to the `couchdb' command.
+ * Improved handling of ICU shared libraries.
 
-Version 0.7.2
--------------
+## Version 0.7.2 ##
 
- * Small changes to build process and couchdb command.
- * CouchDB's official port is now 5984 TCP/UDP instead of 8888.
+ * Small changes to build process and `couchdb` command.
+ * Database server official port is now 5984 TCP/UDP instead of 8888.
 
-Version 0.7.1
--------------
+## Version 0.7.1 ##
 
  * Small compatibility issue with Firefox 3 fixed.
 
-Version 0.7.0
--------------
+## Version 0.7.0 ##
 
- * CouchDB has been rewritten to use the GNU build system for portability.
+ * Infrastructure rewritten to use the GNU build system for portability.
  * The built-in database browsing tool has been rewritten to provide a much
    nicer interface for interacting directly with CouchDB from your web browser.
  * XML and Fabric have been replaced with JSON and JavaScript for data
    transport and View definitions.
 
-Version 0.6.0
--------------
+## Version 0.6.0 ##
 
  * A replication facility is now available.
  * CouchPeek can now create, delete and view documents.
  * Building from source is easier and less error prone.
 
-Version 0.5.0
--------------
+## Version 0.5.0 ##
 
  * A built-in CouchPeek utility.
  * A full install kit buildable from a single command.
  * A new GNU/Linux version is available. An OS X version is coming soon.
 
-Version 0.4.0
--------------
+## Version 0.4.0 ##
 
  * Non-existant variables are now nil lists.
  * Couch error codes and messages are no longer sent in the HTTP fields,
    instead they are exclusively returned in the XML body. This is to avoid HTTP
    header parsing problems with oddly formed error messages.
- * Returned error messages are now logged at the server at the `info' level to
+ * Returned error messages are now logged at the server at the `info` level to
    make general debugging easier.
  * Fixed a problem where big table builds caused timesout errors.
  * Lots of changes in the low level machinery. Most formulas will continue to
    function the same.
  * Added full compiler support for extended characters in formula source.
  * Support for Perl/Ruby like regular expressions.
- * Added `total_rows' and `result_start' attributes to tables.
+ * Added `total_rows` and `result_start` attributes to tables.
 
-Version 0.3.0
--------------
+## Version 0.3.0 ##
 
  * CouchDB now fully supports Unicode and locale specific collation via the ICU
    library, both in the Fabric engine and computed tables.
- * The `in' operator has been added to Fabric.
- * The `startdoc' query string variable specifies the starting document to use if
+ * The `in` operator has been added to Fabric.
+ * The `startdoc` query string variable specifies the starting document to use if
    there are multiple rows with identical startkeys.
- * The `skip' query string variable specifies the number of rows to skip before
-   returning results. The `skip' value must be a positive integer. If used with
-   a `count' variable the skipped rows aren't counted as output.
+ * The `skip` query string variable specifies the number of rows to skip before
+   returning results. The `skip` value must be a positive integer. If used with
+   a `count` variable the skipped rows aren't counted as output.
  * Various changes to the output XML format.