-This file describes the bzr branch in which it is maintained.
-Everything below the line is branch-specific.
-________________________________________________________________________
+You can view the available Emacs branches at
+
+http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/r/emacs/
-This is the trunk (sometimes mistakenly called "HEAD").
-When people say "use the development version of Emacs" or the
-"bzr version of Emacs", this is the branch they are talking about.
+Development normally takes places on the trunk.
+Sometimes specialized features are developed on separate branches
+before possibly being merged to the trunk.
-Emacs development takes place on the trunk. Most of the time, Emacs
-hackers add to it relatively free of constraint (aside from proper
-legal / accounting practices), although sometimes there is related
-discussion on the emacs-devel mailing list.
+Development is discussed on the emacs-devel mailing list.
-Sometime before the release of a new major version of Emacs (eg 22.1),
+Sometime before the release of a new major version of Emacs (eg 23.2),
a "feature freeze" is imposed on the trunk. No new features may be
-added after this point. This is usually many months before the release.
-During this time, there is no official place for development of new features.
+added after this point. This is usually some months before the release.
+
+Shortly before the release, a release branch is created, and the
+trunk is then free for development.
+For example, "emacs-23" for Emacs 23.2 and later, "EMACS_23_1_RC" for
+23.1, "EMACS_22_BASE" for 22.x, and "EMACS_21_1_RC" for 21.x.
-Shortly before the release, a release branch is created. For example,
-EMACS_22_BASE or EMACS_21_1_RC for Emacs 22.x and 21.x, respectively.
-(Unfortunately the naming scheme has not always been consistent.)
+Consult emacs-devel for exactly what kinds of changes are allowed
+on what branch at any time.
+
+If you are looking at this file in a branch other than the trunk,
+there may be some branch-specific documentation below this line.
+________________________________________________________________________
-The release branch is used to make the release (22.1), and all later
-members of the series (22.2, 22.3, etc). Generally, only bug-fixes have
-been allowed in the minor releases, although in 22.x, self-contained
-new features were allowed on a case-by-case basis.
+* elpa
-From the point that a release branch is created, the trunk is free for
-development for the next major version.
+ This branch does not contain a copy of Emacs, but of the Emacs Lisp
+ package archive (elpa.gnu.org). See admin/notes/elpa for further
+ explanation, and the README file in the branch for usage
+ instructions.