diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index bbca8b2f..fd05f1ed 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 2000-01-14  Gary V. Vaughan  <gary@oranda.demon.co.uk>
 
+	* README:  Some notes about libtool release numbers.
+
 	* mdemo/README: Explain the deliberate incompleteness of the
 	Windows port.
 	* mdemo/configure.in: Use AC_LIBTOOL_WIN32_DLL.
diff --git a/README b/README
index a8d16bc9..cf6ad623 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -65,3 +65,55 @@ libtool to a new platform, please send electronic mail to the libtool
 mailing list <libtool@gnu.org> or bug reports to <bug-libtool@gnu.org>.
 Don't forget to mention the version of libtool that you are currently
 using (by typing `libtool --version').
+
+People have complained that they find the version numbering scheme
+under which libtool is released confusing... it works like this:
+
+	<major-number>.<minor-number>
+
+Releases with a <major-number> less than 1 were not yet feature
+complete.  If libtool ever undergoes a major rewrite or substantial
+restructuring, the <major-number> will be incremented again.  In the
+mean time, whenever we make a stable release it will have its 
+<minor-number> incremented with respect to the previous stable
+release.
+
+So that alpha releases can be distinguished from stable releases,
+we append a letter to them, starting with `a' and continuing
+alphabetically:
+
+	<major-number>.<minor-number><alpha> 
+
+Since alpha releases are start with the code of a previous stable
+release, the <major-number> and <minor-number> are the same as the
+stable release they started with.  So release `1.3a' is the first
+alpha release after stable release `1.3', and so on.
+
+To complicate matters slightly we always increment the letter in the
+repository before *and* after making a release tarball.  This means
+that "odd" letters (a,c,e,g...) only exist in the repository, and
+"even" letters are used instantaneously for an alpha release.  For
+example, you can tell that libtool-1.3c is an alpha release that is a
+snapshot of the repository taken between official alpha releases
+1.3b and 1.3d.  Since the odd lettered alpha release number potentially
+cover many states of the tree, we somtimes qualify such releases by
+adding the cvs version of the ChangeLog:
+
+	$ libtool --version
+	ltmain.sh (GNU libtool) 1.3c (1.666 2000/01/14 13:50:21)
+
+Finally, if we need to make a patch release to fix bugs in a stable
+release, and the development on the trunk has made the tree unstable,
+we use a third number, so:
+
+	<major-number>.<minor-number>.<patch number>
+
+	$ libtool --version
+	ltconfig (GNU libtool) 1.3.4 (1.385.2.196 1999/12/07 21:47:57)
+
+There might be several patch releases to the last stable release,
+and all happening concurrently with alpha releases.  For example,
+libtool-1.3.4 and libtool-1.3b might be available at the same time:
+`1.3.4' is the fourth patch release after stable release `1.3';
+`1.3b' is the first alpha release after stable release `1.3'.
+