Generalize the template for the "What's New" document so it's easier

to extract next time without having to remember where in CVS to dig it
out.

Doc/templates/whatsnewXY.tex

+\documentclass{howto}
+\usepackage{distutils}
+% $Id$
+
+% When creating a new ``What's New'' document, copy this to
+% ../whatsnew/whatsnewXY.tex, where X is replaced by the major version
+% number and Y, by the minor version number for the release of Python
+% being described.
+%
+% The following replacements need to be made in the text:
+%
+% X.Y   -- the version of Python this document describes
+% X.Y-1 -- previous major release (not a maintenance release)
+% X.Y-2 -- major release before that one (optional; search the
+%          template to see the usage
+%
+% Once done, write and edit to your heart's content!
+
+\title{What's New in Python X.Y}
+\release{0.0}
+\author{Young Author}
+\authoraddress{\email{ya@example.com}}
+
+\begin{document}
+\maketitle
+\tableofcontents
+
+This article explains the new features in Python X.Y.  No release date
+for Python X.Y has been set; expect that this will happen next year.
+
+% Compare with previous release in 2 - 3 sentences here.
+
+This article doesn't attempt to provide a complete specification of
+the new features, but instead provides a convenient overview.  For
+full details, you should refer to the documentation for Python X.Y.
+% add hyperlink when the documentation becomes available online.
+If you want to understand the complete implementation and design
+rationale, refer to the PEP for a particular new feature.
+
+
+%======================================================================
+
+% Large, PEP-level features and changes should be described here.
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\section{Other Language Changes}
+
+Here are all of the changes that Python X.Y makes to the core Python
+language.
+
+\begin{itemize}
+\item TBD
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\subsection{Optimizations}
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+\item Optimizations should be described here.
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+The net result of the X.Y optimizations is that Python X.Y runs the
+pystone benchmark around XX\% faster than Python X.Y-1.%
+% only use the next line if you want to do the extra work ;) :
+% and YY\% faster than Python X.Y-2.
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\section{New, Improved, and Deprecated Modules}
+
+As usual, Python's standard library received a number of enhancements and
+bug fixes.  Here's a partial list of the most notable changes, sorted
+alphabetically by module name. Consult the
+\file{Misc/NEWS} file in the source tree for a more
+complete list of changes, or look through the CVS logs for all the
+details.
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+\item Descriptions go here.
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+%======================================================================
+% whole new modules get described in \subsections here
+
+
+% ======================================================================
+\section{Build and C API Changes}
+
+Changes to Python's build process and to the C API include:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+\item Detailed changes are listed here.
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\subsection{Port-Specific Changes}
+
+Platform-specific changes go here.
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\section{Other Changes and Fixes \label{section-other}}
+
+As usual, there were a bunch of other improvements and bugfixes
+scattered throughout the source tree.  A search through the CVS change
+logs finds there were XXX patches applied and YYY bugs fixed between
+Python X.Y-1 and X.Y.  Both figures are likely to be underestimates.
+
+Some of the more notable changes are:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+\item Details go here.
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\section{Porting to Python X.Y}
+
+This section lists previously described changes that may require
+changes to your code:
+
+\begin{itemize}
+
+\item Everything is all in the details!
+
+\end{itemize}
+
+
+%======================================================================
+\section{Acknowledgements \label{acks}}
+
+The author would like to thank the following people for offering
+suggestions, corrections and assistance with various drafts of this
+article: .
+
+\end{document}