Re: Should I use version 2.0.* or 2.1.*

[Michael Albinus]

Colin Hogben <address@hidden> writes:

> Hi,

Hi,

> I am trying to use tramp-mode to access some GNU/Linux boxen from
> emacs-22.2.1 on a WindowsXP machine.  Before I try to resolve my
> specific problem, I want to make sure I am running the right version
> of tramp, and I'm a little confused:
>
> - The documentation at http://www.gnu.org/software/tramp/ is for
> 2.1.13 and does not mention the 2.0.* versions.
>
> - The latest emacs (22.2.1) includes tramp, but version 2.0.57
>
> - from the dates of (and in) the tarfiles, it seems that the 2.1
> development branch was forked over four years ago, and that both
> branches have been updated several times since.
>
> So which version is preferred?  If 2.1.*, why does a recent emacs not
> use it?  If 2.0.*, should not the tramp web site mention it?

In May 2004, feature freeze for Emacs 22 was announced. In order to
not disturb (and delay) Emacs 22, we have created Tramp 2.1, where all
new features went to.

Unfortunately, it took still 3 years, until Emacs 22 was
released. Some months before that release we have been asked, whether
we could upgrade to Tramp 2.1 in Emacs 22. We've denied this due to
stability concerns.

Last year's summer, after the release of Emacs 22, we have declared
Tramp 2.1 to be the upstream version. Tramp 2.0 will experience
updates only in case of serious problems. Tramp 2.0.57 is just the
release tag for what have been delivered with Emacs 22.2; it was never
announced officially.

So the answer is short: if you don't have problems with Emacs 22 and
Tramp 2.0, keep it as it is. If there are problems, we will try to
support your Tramp 2.0 version.

However, better support will be available for Tramp 2.1. And there are
other advantages as well; Tramp 2.1 has a better performance compared
to Tramp 2.0.

Emacs 23, which is said to have feature freeze this summer, will carry
Tramp 2.1. I hope it doesn't take another 3 years until release.

> Hope someone can clarify.
>
> Thanks,

Best regards, Michael.