When announcing a new release of a piece of software, even if it's to a mailing list, it is useful to include at least a standard blurb about what it is, and and brief overview of what is new in this version (I would except software that pretty much everyone is expected to recognize, like the Linux kernel).
People quote release announcements, forward them to other lists, treat them as press releases, use them for summaries on aggregator sites, and the like. Having the essentials covered in your release announcement means that anyone who sees that message out of context will still get the information that they need, they won't have to go hunting in several other locations to figure out what you are talking about.
Posted Feb 12, 2012 0:16 UTC (Sun) by k8to (subscriber, #15413)
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Perhaps it is best viewed as a low-investiment high-payoff form of self promotion. An early development project of course does not need users, but it might garner mindshare and possibly developers?