add release notes for 0.14

release_notes/README.md

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+Release Notes
+=============
+
+This directory contains the release notes for each version of Blockstack Core.  In particular, there are two types of changes in each release:
+
+* **Consensus-breaking Releases**:  These are releases of Blockstack Core that change its consensus rules.
+Examples include adding new name opcodes, removing old ones, changing the types of transactions that are supported, which blockchain(s) are used, etc.
+Each consensus-breaking release is incompatible with all prior releases; old releases will not agree with new releases on the global name set.
+For this reason, **it is strongly recommended to run the latest Blockstack Core release.**
+
+* **Non-consenus-breaking Releases**:  These are all other releases.  They include bugfixes, reliability improvements, performance improvements, and so on.
+
+Notes on Consensus
+==================
+
+The Blockstack Developers do their best to avoid consensus-breaking releases whenever possible.
+However, certain improvements and bugfixes cannot be done without them.
+As such, the project tries to limit consensus-breaking releases to one per year (around mid-September), and only with extensive testing.
+Consensus-breaking changes are documented in the release notes, and will be publicly documented in the version's wish list file whenever possible.
+
+If a critical consensus-breaking bug or security vulnerability is found, a new consensus-breaking release may be made on the spot.
+If this happens, it will be documented here and announced publicly.
+
+A yearly consensus-breaking release is required in order to keep name and namespace prices reasonable.
+When Blockstack was first deployed, namespace prices were determined on a 1 BTC == $230 USD exchange.
+At a minimum, the consensus-breaking release must adjust the BTC prices to ensure that names and namespaces
+are neither too cheap (making squatting trivial) nor too expensive (making the system unusable).

release_notes/changelog-0.14.md

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+What's New in 0.14
+==================
+
+Release 0.14 brings several major improvements.  It is a **consensus-breaking release.**  Users are encouraged to upgrade to 0.14 as soon as possible in order to stay on the same name set as everyone else.
+
+Release Highlights
+------------------
+
+* **Sqlite3 Database**.  The consensus logic has been re-written from the ground up to use a sqlite3 database instead of a flat JSON file for storing the name set.  This reduces RAM usage by 20x (~3 GB to ~150MB).
+
+* **P2P Blockchain Synchronization.**  The blockchain synchronization logic (in [virtualchain](https://github.com/blockstack/virtualchain)) has been re-written to use the Bitcoin p2p interface whenever possible, instead of the RPC interface.  This not only improves download performance by 6x, but also removes the need for a multiprocess work pool (improving reliability).
+
+* **Atlas Protocol.**  Blockstack Core now implements its own unstructured p2p network (the Atlas network) for replicating the set of zonefiles amongst themselves.  Each node builds a 100% replica of all zonefiles using the set of zonefile hashes in the name database.  Nodes walk the peer graph to select K random neighbors; we reduce bias with a Metropolis-Hastings random walk with delayed acceptance.
+
+* **Resolver API Server.**  As part of our ongoing consolidation efforts, Blockstack Core now ships with a resolver HTTP server and documentation.
+
+* **Multisig Support.**  Blockstack Core now accepts name operations from multisig addresses.
+
+* **Testnet Support.**  Blockstack Core can now operate on Bitcoin's testnet.  This can be achieved by setting `BLOCKSTACK_TESTNET=1` in the environment.
+
+
+Consensus-breaking Changes
+--------------------------
+
+* Support for pay-to-script-hash Bitcoin addresses has been added, in order to support multisig ownership and payment addresses.  Versions 0.13 and earlier will reject transactions with p2sh addresses.
+
+* Name and namespace prices have been re-adjusted by a factor of 0.417 to preserve the $230 USD to 1 BTC exchange rate in 0.13.  They take effect at block XXX.
+
+* Name lifetimes in all namespaces have been temporarily increased by a factor of 2.  For example, a name in the `.id` namespace will be valid for two years, instead of one.  This will be reverted in 0.15, due for release mid-September 2017.  This was done to give more time to upgrade the CLI and brower to automatically renew names.
+
+
+Selected Changelog
+------------------
+
+* Do not accept zonefiles unless we can determine the name and transaction ID that paid for the `NAME_UPDATE`.
+
+* Atlas: retry storage drivers for missing zonefiles every 12 hours.
+
+* Add a notion of "epochs" to encode what the current name price and namespace lifetime are, based on the block height.
+
+* Make expired `NAMESPACE_REVEAL` name operations restorable, so that `verifydb` database verification logic can handle them.
+
+* Do not use `sys.exit(1)` on an assertion failure; use `os.abort()`.
+
+* The `get_nameops_*` method family has been renamed to `get_records_*`.
+
+* Run multiple instances of the core server in the test framework in order to enable Atlas testing.
+
+* Check that the config files are compatible with the running version of the server.
+
+* Do not require a transaction to have a single public key in its `scriptSig` field.
+
+* Check for absurdly high-value transaction fees when broadcasting.
+
+* Identify client storage drivers to use specifically for zonefiles or specifically for profiles.
+
+* Cap profiles to 1MB when using Blockstack Core as a storage proxy.
+
+* Improve SNV efficiency by serving batches of consensus hashes.
+
+* Move most configuration-parsing logic to the client library.
+
+* Remove old `testset` mode, since it never really worked anyway.
+
+* Move all transaction-creation logic to the client.  Blockstack Core no longer creates transactions.
+
+* Remove transaction subsidization logic from Blockstack Core.  This is the registrar's responsibility.
+
+* Remove all remaining Twisted API server and Twisted DHT logic.
+
+* Automatic database backups; access with `blockstack-server restore`.
+
+* Remove UTXO service query logic from Blockstack Core.  This is the client's responsibility.
+
+* Spin off `blockstack_zones`, `blockstack_utxo`, `blockstack_profiles`, and `blockstack_integration_tests` into separate packages.
+
+* Fix `NAME_TRANSFER` name operation restoration and SNV logic to use the correct consensus hash.
+
+* Remove unfinished `blockmirrord` code; merge zonefile and profile API code into the main API server.
+
+* Log unavailability of blockchain announcement payloads.