(maint) Update README stating stdlib 4.x supports Puppet 2.7.x

Without this patch there is a disconnect between the documentation in
the README and our decision to not merge pull requests into the 4.x
series that break compatibility with Puppet 2.7.x

For example:

    @jeffmccune I think the real issue here is that "policy" is out of sync with
    the documentation. The README claims that 4.x does not support puppet 2.7.x,
    yet the "policy" is not to merge patches that break 2.7.x. Due to that I'm sure
    there are a lot of 2.7.x installations out there that have a 4.x version of
    stdlib installed. That's going to cause a rather rude surprise if some future
    version of 4.x stops working where a prior minor release was functioning.

    I'd like to suggest that the documentation be changed to reflect 4.x supporting
    2.7.x and that a new major version bump is made when 2.7.x support can in fact
    be dropped. An alternative solution would be update the README with a note to
    developers about the kinda/sorta/maybe/fishy/quasi support of 2.7.x.

Please also see this discussion:
https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-stdlib/pull/176#issuecomment-30251414

diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 5635343afc87d3c8de6cae6deb28d111955da2a6..fa022747f7dbe6b4e67d6a714717949bd911ac87 100644 (file)
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ list of integration branches are:
  * v2.1.x (v2.1.1 released in PE 1)
  * v2.2.x (Never released as part of PE, only to the Forge)
  * v2.3.x (Released in PE 2)
- * v3.0.x (Never released as part of PE, only to the Forge)
- * v4.0.x (Drops support for Puppet 2.7)
+ * v3.0.x (Released in PE 3)
+ * v4.0.x (Maintains compatibility with v3.x despite the major semantic version bump.  Compatible with Puppet 2.7.x)
+ * v5.x (To be released when stdlib can drop support for Puppet 2.7.x.  Please see [this discussion](https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppetlabs-stdlib/pull/176#issuecomment-30251414))
  * master (mainline development branch)
 
 The first Puppet Enterprise version including the stdlib module is Puppet
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ Puppet Versions | < 2.6 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 3.x |
 :---------------|:-----:|:---:|:---:|:----:
 **stdlib 2.x**  | no    | **yes** | **yes** | no
 **stdlib 3.x**  | no    | no  | **yes** | **yes**
-**stdlib 4.x**  | no    | no  | no  | **yes**
+**stdlib 4.x**  | no    | no  | **yes** | **yes**
 
 The stdlib module does not work with Puppet versions released prior to Puppet
 2.6.0.
@@ -60,8 +61,10 @@ supports Puppet 2 and Puppet 3.
 
 ## stdlib 4.x ##
 
-The 4.0 major release of stdlib drops support for Puppet 2.7.  Stdlib 4.x
-supports Puppet 3.  Notably, ruby 1.8.5 is no longer supported though ruby
+The 4.0 major release of stdlib was intended to drop support for Puppet 2.7,
+but the impact on end users was too high.  The decision was made to treat
+stdlib 4.x as a continuation of stdlib 3.x support.  Stdlib 4.x supports Puppet
+2.7 and 3.  Notably, ruby 1.8.5 is no longer supported though ruby
 1.8.7, 1.9.3, and 2.0.0 are fully supported.
 
 # Functions #