Release Notes for the Initial Version of TinyMUSH 2.2

As of April 1st, 1995, TinyMUSH 2.2 is officially out of beta test.
The current release can be picked up from the following URL:
ftp://ftp.cis.upenn.edu/pub/lwl/src/2.2

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Why another branch of TinyMUSH?

TinyMUSH development over the past year has slowed abruptly. This has
been fueled both by lack of agreement over what features to put in the
code, and how to implement those features, as well as the desire of
the MUSH community to have a stable, tested, base of code. Though
attempts with test suites were made, it seemed as if stable versions
were not going to emerge if the code was not tested in "production"
environments.  Due to concerns with the TinyMUSH 2.0.10p6 release,
much of the MUSH world stayed with 2.0.10p5, the end result of which
has been effectively no new features in TinyMUSH since the November
1993 release of 2.0.10p5.

We decided to remain as compatible as possible with the 2.0.10p5
baseline code; the database format has stayed basically the same
(unlike the aborted 2.1 OIF-style database project). Thus, conversions
to TinyMUSH 2.2 shouldn't break existing code. Our priorities are
stability before features, but there are certainly a number of new
features in 2.2; keeping with the trend of a more "functional" style
of MUSH programming, a large number of functions supporting complex
list operations and global wizard objects have been added.

This is not a one-time code release; we intend for TinyMUSH 2.2 to be
a continuing line of code. The code clean-up at this point has been
massive, and will continue for some time to come. We also plan to
complement the server release with a MUSHcode master room package,
incorporating commonly used generic global commands and systems.

This code is supported by the Development Team. Bug reports can be made
to the mailing list 'hogs@cesium.clock.org', which is a list read by
the Development Team alone. Those seeking a more general forum to discuss
server issues should use 'mushhacks@caisr2.caisr.cwru.edu' instead.

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What's the TinyMUSH 2.2 Development Team?

There are three core developers -- Jean Marie Diaz (Ambar), Lydia
Leong (Amberyl), and Devin Hooker (Ophelia/Ysabel/Tyleet) -- plus a
handful of other programmers and administrators who test TinyMUSH 2.2
on large public MUSHes. At present, joining the team is by invitation
only.

Devin Hooker is primarily responsible for providing direct support for
2.2.  Bugfixes and efficiency issues are at the top of the priority
list; features will be added based on their general usefulness. In
particular, genre-specific hacks (such as stats systems) will never
appear in TinyMUSH 2.2. 

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How Do I Find Out More?

FTP the latest TinyMUSH 2.2 release, and read through the CHANGES file.
Also look at the README; if you choose to install/upgrade, make sure you
follow the directions carefully.

General TinyMUSH 2.2 announcements will be made on the mushhacks mailing
list, as well as on the rec.games.mud.* groups.


			-- The TinyMUSH 2.2 Development Team
