A point release is a minor release of a software project, especially one intended to fix bugs or do minor cleanups rather than add features. The term implies that such releases are relatively frequent, and is generally used with respect to open source projects being developed in the "bazaar model" as described in Eric S. Raymond's essay "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".
With retail software, point releases are often, but not necessarily, free updates for users of the latest full version, as opposed to major releases that frequently come at some cost, albeit reduced, even for previous users.
The point refers to fact that the version number is only incremented after the decimal point, i.e. 7.0 to 7.1, or 2.3.1 to 2.3.2.
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Famous quotes containing the words point and/or release:
“In order to really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semihuman. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“As nature requires whirlwinds and cyclones to release its excessive force in a violent revolt against its own existence, so the spirit requires a demonic human being from time to time whose excessive strength rebels against the community of thought and the monotony of morality ... only by looking at those beyond its limits does humanity come to know its own utmost limits.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)