Initial version 2014.11 release announcement

docs/announce/2014.11.md

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Announce: Rakudo Perl 6 compiler, Development Release #82 ("Helsinki")
+
+On behalf of the Rakudo development team, I'm happy to announce the
+Octover 2014 release of Rakudo Perl 6 #82 "Helsinki". Rakudo is an
+implementation of Perl 6 on the Moar Virtual Machine[^1], the Java Virtual
+Machine and the Parrot Virtual Machine. The tarball for this release
+is available from <http://rakudo.org/downloads/rakudo/>.
+
+Please note: This announcement is not for the Rakudo Star
+distribution[^2] --- it's announcing a new release of the compiler
+only. For the latest Rakudo Star release, see
+<http://rakudo.org/downloads/star/>.
+
+The Rakudo Perl compiler follows a monthly release cycle, with each
+release named after a Perl Mongers group. This release is named after
+Helsinki, in honour of the organizers of the Nordic Perl Workshop.
+
+Some of the changes in this release are outlined below:
+
+- Method 'for' as an alias for 'map'. Map will stop flattening the list eventually, 'for' remains as it is now.
+- Method 'unique' as a successor for 'uniq'
+- Introduce IO::Handle.slurp-rest for slurping rest from handle
+- Using a constant negative subscript now dies at compile time
+- Better wording for runtime negative index failure
+- Force calling method for <.foo> even if sub foo exists
+- Fix tie-breaking issues with longest literal matching
+- Various performance improvements and bugfixes
+
+These are only some of the changes in this release. For a more
+detailed list, see "docs/ChangeLog".
+
+The development team thanks all of our contributors and sponsors for
+making Rakudo Perl possible, as well as those people who worked on
+Parrot, the Perl 6 test suite, MoarVM and the specification.
+
+The following people contributed to this release:
+
+Elizabeth Mattijsen, Tobias Leich, Larry Wall, Jonathan Scott Duff,
+Timo Paulssen, Alexander Moquin, Moritz Lenz, Steve Mynott,
+Christian Bartolomäus, Carl Mäsak, Pepe Schwarz, Rob Hoelz, Reini Urban,
+Geoff Broadwell, [Coke]
+
+If you would like to contribute, see <http://rakudo.org/how-to-help>,
+ask on the <perl6-compiler@perl.org> mailing list, or ask on IRC
+\#perl6 on freenode.
+
+The next release of Rakudo (#83), is scheduled for 18 December 2014.
+A list of the other planned release dates and code names for future
+releases is available in the "docs/release_guide.pod" file. A Rakudo
+development release typically occurs a few days (often two) after the
+third Tuesday of each month.
+
+The development team appreciates feedback! If you're using Rakudo, do
+get back to us. Questions, comments, suggestions for improvements, cool
+discoveries, incredible hacks, or any other feedback -- get in touch with
+us through (the above-mentioned) mailing list of IRC channel. Enjoy!
+
+[^1]: See <http://moarvm.org/>
+
+[^2]: What's the difference between the Rakudo compiler and the Rakudo
+Star distribution?
+
+The Rakudo compiler is a compiler for the Perl 6 language.
+Nothing else.
+
+The Rakudo Star distribution is the Rakudo compiler plus a selection
+of useful Perl 6 modules, a module installer, the most recent
+incarnation of the "Using Perl 6" book, and other software that can
+be used with the Rakudo compiler to enhance its utility.  Rakudo Star
+is meant for early adopters who wish to explore what's possible with
+Rakudo Perl 6 and provide feedback on what works, what doesn't, and
+what else they would like to see included in the distribution.